Sviederbach Chronicles Second Installment: The Hunt for Sviederbach
by Nature9000
Summary: Eighteen years after Gunther and Cece step up to the throne, the entire royal family is caught up in the middle of an assassination plot from a rival family in a lethal game of scavenger hunting. It is now up to their two eldest children to rescue her family before time is up, and Sviederbach is plunged back into darkness.
1. The State of the Country

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N: So here's the sequel to _Flames of Love_, takes place eighteen years after. If you haven't read the original, you probably ought to read it. I don't think this story will be as long as it's successor, and I really hope and believe you'll enjoy it!

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Chapter 1 (State of the Country)

An anxious redhead stood before her grandmother, holding up a dress in each hand. She was tapping her foot and glancing back and forth from the red dress with the v-neck collar, short sleeves, and purple skirt, to the blue strapless dress with the open back, and full pleated skirt that flowed down towards the ankles. "Okay Grandma, which one? I really like the red, but the blue is _so _pretty." The red dress had a lace trim at the bottom and a floral design on the skirt. The blue dress wouldn't be so bad, her curly hair always felt nice against her bare back and shoulders.

"Relax sweetheart, you'll make it. No matter when his plane arrives, he said he'd wait for you to get there, did he not, Aveline?" Aveline smiled at her grandmother and lifted her shoulders carelessly. She wasn't usually so anxious, and god forbid she would ever be _dainty_ or _girly_ like the common conception of a 'Princess' was. When it came to love, she still wanted to look nice, like everyone else. "Go for the red dress. You're eighteen, and I think you're still much too young to be wearing something like the blue dress that shows off too much cleavage. What kind of message do you want to send this boy?"

"Grandma!" Her cheeks grew bright red as she stared down at the dresses. Grandma Hessenheffer was right, the red dress looked much more appropriate for this occasion. "Besides, I'm pretty sure this guy won't be like the suitors mom and dad find. I've known him for _how_ long now?" She hung the blue dress up in her closet as Squitza started to laugh. The woman hadn't changed much over the years, she still looked the same as she did eighteen years ago, except for the fact that she had much shorter hair, a couple wrinkles on her face, and thinner faded hair.

"I know sweetie, you've been dating this guy for a few years now. He sounds like a very respectable man, I just wish I could meet him. Your grandfather and I understand, however. You know, your mom and dad did the same thing." Aveline turned around with mild agitation, she'd heard the story a million times now, and did _not _want to hear it again. No offense to her grandmother, whom she truly adored! She was just antsy. This man she was dating was exactly two years and eleven months older than she was. They'd been dating in secret for about three years now.

"I _know!_ Secret relationship and so forth, but I think we have more reason to keep it under wraps. Don't we?" Sviederbach law states that a Prince and a Princess, especially the _Crown_ _Prince/Princess_ had a requirement to marry quickly. It had been that way for three hundred years. Most heirs to the throne produced children either in their late teens or early to mid-twenties. She didn't see a need for a rush, especially since her father had twenty-six more years to rule the throne! Unfortunately, with the law being said, _many_ men all over Sviederbach, and the world, had come each year to take her hand, and she wound up turning each and every one of them down. For the most part, her mother understood due to the fact that several of those men only wanted her for status, money, or the most common, _sex_. She didn't want to marry for any of that, she wanted to marry someone she _loved_.

Unfortunately the person she was seeing now, while she knew her heart was with him, it was _who_ he was that she thought people might have a problem with. Therefore, the only people that knew they were together were her grandparents, and his grandparents. Kashlack had figured it out almost instantaneously, to which, Aveline had no clue how he _knew_. "Okay, thanks for all your help with me getting ready, I have to get dressed and run. I love you grandma!"

Soon after getting dressed, Aveline was on her way to her siblings where she was sure all of them were playing some random video game. While most nights, she could hear them running all over the castle, this was their 'television night'. Here they were allowed to watch television or play video games, usually this was two or three nights a week for just a few hours. It was in order to promote _outside_ activities, rather than sitting around lazily with nothing to do.

Aveline had _four_ siblings, two of which were twins. Her oldest sibling, Astor Hessenheffer, was twelve years. He'd been named after their ancestor, the short term King who got the most done for the nation. The twins were Michael and Mia, eight years old, and just as stubborn and obnoxious as Aveline and their parents were. The youngest was Kuno, he was four years old this year, and spent all his time following his siblings around. These four usually got into a lot of trouble around the castle, though Astor _tried_ to steer them right, he often was the one that got them into trouble in the _first_ place.

Their cousin, August, son of Uncle Ty and Aunt Tinka, lived on an upper level of the castle. He was twelve, and a major bookworm. Like his father, he was interested in the history of the country, so he spent many days in Sviederbach's museum. When he came home, he was getting caught up in the antics of the children. Uncle Flynn had married Mina Baldric about two years ago, they lived in the castle as well, but were considering a smaller place within another district. Mina was pregnant now, so Aveline was looking forward to the birth of _another_ cousin!

Also living in the castle was the Chief Royal Guard, Rocky Blue-Reiner. A few years after the move to Sviederbach, Rocky met and married a member of the Guard, Rolf Reiner, and gave birth to two children. Wilbert, ten years old, and Karla, who was eight years old. Both seemed to be very protective of their family, and very dedicated to the training that their mom was putting them through. It wasn't easy sneaking out of the castle when Rocky was around and alert, so Aveline had to be _exceptionally _careful. Hell, the fact that her own mother, Cece, was still on Sviederbach's Law Enforcement, made it even more strenuous!

Though, she got a lot of help through her cousin and best friend, Estelle. Estelle was really her second cousin, daughter of René and his wife Madeline. Estelle was sixteen years old and lived with her parents in a small house near the castle. Most times she had to sneak out to see her boyfriend, she would simply say to Rocky, she was going to run about with Estelle. Seeing as how it was not uncommon to see the royal family walking around Sviederbach, she didn't _need_ to be disguised or anything. However, if her boyfriend were around, Estelle would help her find a suitable disguise so no one would be suspicious seeing the Princess flirting about with a guy they didn't recognize.

"Hey, I'm heading out," Aveline said once she passed the children's room. Astor, August, and Wilbert were the only three in there. Astor looked much like his father, thin and with his father's eyes, and even the same hairstyle his dad had when younger, only his hair was red. August was dark-skinned with surprisingly light curly hair. He had bright blue eyes and always a wide smile. Wilbert had a similar, but darker skin tone, brown eyes, and jet black hair that he liked to pull into a small ponytail. "Astor, where are your brothers and sister?" Astor looked up from the television and hummed.

"Let's see," Astor had a slight nasally voice, and constantly hoped when he hit puberty, his voice would deepen. Aveline and Estelle often teased him for his voice. "Michael and Mia are playing in garden out back, and I think Mom's trying to give Kuno a bath. Emphasis on _trying_." She laughed and moved her hand towards her forehead. Kuno _hated_ baths, and cried for hours if he had to get one. Nobody knew why, but the boy was sadly terrified of water.

"Okay, and what about Karla?" She had to make sure that Karla was busy, she would _always_ tell her mother if she found Aveline sneaking out. Then Aveline would have to try and make up some story to explain to Rocky.

"With mom," Wilbert commented. "Karla's getting some extra training because she was sick the other day. So Mom and Karla are going to busy today."

"Okay good. Then I guess that's it, I'll see you guys later!" Astor rolled his eyes and Aveline hastened herself towards the front doors of the castle. As she made her way out the doors, she nodded to the two guards at their post. This was routine for her, and thankfully, the guards that often stood post at the door never seemed to be any wiser.

Estelle was waiting at the street with her green Volkswagen. She'd recently received her license, which made things so much easier on Aveline. The windows were dark-tinted on the outside, which allowed for some privacy. Her blond haired cousin tapped her foot with a rushed pace, motioning with her hand for Aveline to hurry it up. Once she made it over, the two entered the front of the car. "It took you long enough!"

"Sorry, I just had to make sure everything was clear to go," Aveline remarked. She relaxed in her seat and sighed as Estelle began to drive. She and Estelle were the same height, six feet-eight inches, and both weighed about 155 pounds. Only Aveline had a bit bigger build than Estelle did, her shoulders were broader and her arms were a bit bigger from exercise. As a Princess, she had to keep in top shape. Although, she couldn't count the times she'd nearly lost her father's treasured sword while trying to swordfight! It was hard to learn how to swing the blade without letting go of the handle altogether, she couldn't _help_ it, and it didn't help that she laughed every time she nearly sliced something in two. She was more skilled at archery, something she took up with her mom. Her mom was a great sharpshooter, and since Aveline couldn't practice with guns, archery was the next best thing. It seemed Astor might wind up being the swordfighter in the family, _not_ her.

"So Ave, is this going to be more routine now that your guy's moving here?"

"It's only for two semesters." The man was taking a cultural class in college, and was given the choice of what country to visit. So, he chose Sviederbach. There were two reasons, he loved the country, as it used to be his home, and knew quite a bit about it from his mother and father. Then, he wanted to come and be close to Aveline. Before this college class, the times they were able to see each other were _three_ times out of a year. He would come to Sviederbach every summer for one month with his grandparents, as Henric and Gloria truly loved reconnecting with their home. During the Christmas season, he would come with his grandmother and grandfather for one week while his parents stayed back. Then Spring Break, Aveline was making the trip to America with her mom and dad. Cece's father, Grandpa James, had moved to Chicago because Gunther would often visit their old family friends that were there. Sadly Grandpa James was unable to make the move to Sviederbach, he had too many ties to too many gas stations around the country and just could not leave.

It was during one of these visits that Aveline met her secret lover. She hadn't started going to America with her parents until she was ten, so she knew the boy, then one day he worked up the nerve to ask her out, and she couldn't say no. The only thing, they didn't really know how their fathers would react to such a relationship, and obviously _she_ didn't know how Sviederbach would react! Still, it was great to see him and to know she could trust him, more so than she trusted any of the boys that had come around her.

He was not the first boy she dated, there were a number in particular that started coming to her as early as _twelve_ years of age. Even now, she'd go on 'dates' completely uninterested in the guy, and even when she would turn them down, or politely state that she was interested in someone else, they would try to make a move on her! So much like her father before his rule began, she never really _liked_ the whole royalty concept.

That was not to say she wasn't proud. Over the years, in her father's term, Sviederbach had become lush and vibrant again. Great-Great Grandpa Anders Brustrum would be _proud_ of what her father had accomplished in eighteen years! The economy was financially in the best shape that it had ever been, though some old wounds from Hans Brustrum were still there, healing slowly but surely. The creeks were full of water, the skies full of life. This was a place where people were _happy _to live in now, and not at all fearing for their lives. One of the biggest changes was the police force. While yes, having their Queen on the force, still Cece was given no special treatment, she still managed to influence the law enforcement to treat the citizens properly. She'd risen through the ranks, but never wanted to become the Police Chief, she was fine living out her own mother's legacy, and remaining Queen, she didn't want to force the extra burden on the officers by becoming their Chief as well.

"Most likely we'll have to meet in secret more regularly, but who cares?" Estelle started to point at herself, only to smile back and laugh. Aveline understood her cousin didn't actually mind helping, but it was odd enough driving around at night all the time. "I promise you, we don't and won't do anything. He's like the one guy on this planet that isn't a disgusting pervert, or in it for status."

"That _is_ admirable, I guess. I, for one, wouldn't _mind_ having all those guys flocking around me."

"Try having to put up with it on a regular basis, _then_ come talk to me."

"Fair enough."

She moved her head onto the window and gazed out with a tiny smile. Pride and excitement swelled up inside her as she gazed at the landscape. Growing up, she only knew stories about how bad it was. For the first five years of her life, the economy was still moving slowly, but it was still hard for her to remember Sviederbach as a dying country. "Plus, as one suitor apparently told me…marrying the daughter of the King who saved the country is quite the _prize_. All I _am_ to these guys is a damned trophy!" She smacked her hand forward and looked over to Estelle with a frustrated grunt. "How does anyone expect me to marry, if every potential suitor is some greedy, self-loving, _bastard_ that's only interested in marrying a princess? I'm not fucking Snow White or Cinderella, I'm not a goddamn _prize_, and I'm not going to sit around and settle for any guy that can't keep up with me!"

"Keep up with you, Ave?" Estelle raised an eyebrow as she started to pull into Sviederbach's airport pick-up zones. "Well, I guess you _are _moving about a lot."

"My mother and father were dancers on that one show. Mom's a police officer, Dad's royalty. Grandma, Mom's mom, was also a police officer…so yeah I'm active as can be, and I can handle myself. I'm not sitting around, waiting for some guy to come along and 'complete' me, I want a guy that can keep up with me, can handle me, and treat me the way I deserve…not like some trophy to stare at! Hell no!"

"Ah yes, when you're a Princess, guys like that come once in a million. You need the tough, but compassionate type, right? Strong, not greedy, actually cares about you, and is loyal to a fault?"

"Something like that, but I don't want a _dog_, Estelle. I want…" She pressed her lips together and let her mind wander to her boyfriend. Everything about the man matched everything she wanted in a man, and to top it off, he would likely be there as a strong leader when her Term came. Gazing outside, she saw him walking from the airport with his grandparents, there to help him with the move. His father was a baseball coach and history teacher at the high school, so he couldn't help with this move. The mother couldn't either, as she had to take care of the younger kids. He had two siblings, Noak, who was the same age as Estelle, and Astrid, who just turned twelve. Like her mother, Astrid was also on _Shake it Up, Chicago_.

Her heart beat as Estelle started to roll the windows down, honking to alert the man. He was wearing black shades, had on a brown coat with wolf fur collar, a black t-shirt beneath, and dark blue jeans that covered the top of his shoes. His stern, yet soft green eyes flickered happily towards her. She couldn't wait to get a hold of him and run her fingers through his soft, feathery brown hair. His hair covered the top half of his ears.

"Ander!" Aveline cried out with a joyous and triumphant shout. Ander bounced over to the car with his luggage in hand. Gloria and Henric followed close behind, they didn't have much in the way of luggage to carry, but still managed whatever they had. There were two of his college buddies there to help as well, his former roommates that would be keeping the dormitory clean for him.

Ander leaned into the car and smirked. "Hey Ave, I was beginning to worry that you might not make it! Are you my ride to the college?"

"Yep, do you need help with the luggage?"

"No, we got it, but thanks for offering." She nodded as Ander gave her a chaste peck on the lips. "It's good to finally be here with you. God I missed you."

"I missed you. It wasn't very hard to leave the castle this time. What does Mr. Bransford think about your being here?"

"Dad's fine with it."

After a few minutes, and saying his farewells to his grandparents, Ander got in the back seat of the car. Aveline moved back with him and cuddled close, resting her head on his shoulder. When he put his arm around her, she couldn't help but to sigh. She was relaxed, and warmth was filling up inside of her. "I'm glad he's all right with your being here. I just wonder what our fathers would do if they knew we were together."

"I don't know, kill us maybe?" He joked and kissed the top of her head as the car began to drive off. "Dad's actually considering moving back here now, anyway. I mean the ban's already been lifted years ago, but we stayed behind just because we had stuff there, but Dad's been looking for a reason to come back."

"If he did, then my dad might reinstate him as a noble, right?"

"Maybe." Granted they probably wouldn't be the highest noble family anymore, but they would sure come close. Roffe was still the president of Parliament, and his family had become the highest noble family. "Anyway, glad to be on land."

"Oh yeah, how was your flight?"

He meshed his brow together and looked down into her eyes. "Interesting. There's a group of the cultural students in my class that came along, minus my two roommates of course. Only one of them really talked, the other two just kind of sat and glared at us for the whole trip. Not sure where they're at _now_, probably heading to the dormitory."

"Strange…" Most college students were sociable, but it likely didn't matter. "You think they don't like you?"

"Maybe, I never really talked to them, so I wouldn't imagine they disliked me. They're a little older, well Mala's not. Mala's like one or two years older than I am. The other one was Martin, he's her boyfriend. Martin Lamont and Mala Nils. Kind of creepy." He shrugged his shoulders and put his arm around hers. "Not important though, what's important is you and I are finally together."

"Yeah! A whole year, and maybe if your dad _does_ decide to come back here, it'll be permanent." She cuddled closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. This day couldn't get any better, though she probably should be concerned if she missed her mother's archery lesson later today. She was often late, or off causing mischief, and sometimes that made her late to her classes, which caused her to be in serious trouble. "We have about one or two hours before I have to get back to Mom. So, it's your first day in the country, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know, I really just want to rest and get settled into my dorm…"

"Fair enough, Estelle and I can help you with that."

"Okay then."

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So, what do you think so far? Anything surprise you here? We've not quite gotten into the bad part yet, but the antagonist is surely being seen. Surprised to see who Aveline's boyfriend is? You're going to enjoy this, I know you will, I have 17 chapters written thus far, and it is good. Now, I don't expect the story to be nearly as long as Flames, so no worries there, haha.


	2. Sibling's Watchful Gaze

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N: So here's the sequel to _Flames of Love_, takes place eighteen years after. If you haven't read the original, you probably ought to read it. I don't think this story will be as long as its successor, and I really hope and believe you'll enjoy it!

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Chapter 2 (Sibling's Watchful Gaze)

"Where does your sister sneak off to anyway?" August asked with a curious tone. Astor raised an eyebrow and shrugged, he wasn't too interested in talking about his sister at the moment. Currently they were trying to watch a television program for some show over in America, but it was just a boring soap opera. The actual show they were _waiting_ for was _Shake it Up, Chicago_, the only _Shake it Up_ dance show that aired in Sviederbach, solely for its involvement with the country so long ago.

Wilbert laughed and moved away from the bookshelf beside Astor's bed. "Maybe she's got a secret boyfriend." Astor raised an eyebrow and scoffed at the thought, he would _know_ if she had a boyfriend. Just like his parent's secret relationship, Uncle Flynn knew, Astor would know. Then again, he never put much thought into the whole question, he was busy watching after the younger siblings. "I can just imagine Aveline running off on some secret rendezvous, giving my mother the slip, and meeting with some mysterious guy."

"Only you would be interested in all that stuff, Wilbert."

"Says the guy obsessed with wanting to dye his hair black."

"Come on, I'm like the blondest back kid in the world! To top it off, Mom and Dad don't even believe in hair dye." Astor rolled his eyes and stared up at the clock on the wall, soon he would have sword lessons with his dad. His sword training took place at the same time Aveline took archery with their mom. It was a continual thing, and in a few years the twins would join them, depending on which weapon they wanted to learn. In Sviederbach, _especially_ royal and noble families, children had to start learning to fight and military strategies at a young age. For him, he preferred the times he got to step away and have fun, rather than dealing with all this training and etiquette stuff. Hell, even the schooling went by faster in Sviederbach than in other countries, which made their education great, but harder than other areas of the world. When he turned sixteen, he would be done with school, Aveline was _already_ finished. "How can I be cool if I'm blonde? I don't want to be _blonde!_"

"Look at it this way, August." Astor turned his head back, grinning deviously at the two boys. "In a few years your hair may start turning brown. Wilbert, on the other hand, will still be a bookworm." August laughed and Wilbert narrowed his eyes."Sorry Wilbert, had to make the joke."

"Don't make me sic my mother on you." He flinched and watched his friend's triumphant smirk. Of course, Rocky scared the hell out of everyone. She was nice and a very good friend, but when she got serious, boy was she scary. Karla was turning out to be just like her, which was perhaps, even scarier. "Anyway, why are we even watching the last few minutes of this soap opera thing? What will it hurt to miss a few minutes of that dance show?"

"Aw he doesn't want to miss his favorite dancer," August teased. Astor rolled his eyes once more and turned back to the screen. He enjoyed watching Astrid Bransford going through her dance routines, only because she was a friend. It wasn't so long ago that they met when Gunther and Cece took the family to visit the Bransfords in America. Hell, Aveline met Ander when she went to see the ball game going on at their parents' old high school, Ander was the pitcher, like father-like son.

"She's a friend." In the last eighteen years, Gary had since retired from the show and began traveling all over the world. No one was sure where he was now. It was one of the great mysteries of the show, and he would know, since Astor followed just about everything that was _Shake it Up_. "Anyway, I think it's about to start." August rolled his eyes and fell back on the pillow while Albert opened up a brown book he grabbed from the bookshelf. No one was quite into the show as he was, but who could blame him for wanting to watch girls as young as he was dancing all over the stage in various outfits? _"Okay, that sounds so wrong…"_

The theme began to play, and the new host stepped into the camera to announce the spotlight dance of the week. The new host was someone named Lewis Miller, he had some of Gary's youthfulness, which was great considering the shoes the man had to fill. It was better that he retain some of the youthfulness and excitement to try to keep the flow going.

The spotlight dance came and his 'favorite' dancer stepped into center stage, waving her hands in the air. She was the youngest dancer there, having turned twelve just last month, August 29th. She had a soft round face, sparkly diamond eyes, and curly brown hair that framed her head and acted as a blanket for her neck. She was not really a fantastic dancer, but she was beautiful. At least he thought she was, and at his age, he shouldn't even be all that interested in girls. Perhaps he was just simply older mentally than he really was, like Uncle Flynn?

Just as the dance was about to start, the door flew open and the two eight year olds of the castle came running around the room, laughing happily. Astor raised an eyebrow and smiled at his brother and sister. However, they currently looked like a blonde mass zipping back and forth. Both had quite a bit of hair. He preferred spiking his hair if he could, but Michael liked having long wavy hair like his sister. Although, mom and dad made sure it didn't grow any longer than his chin, while Mia's hair ran out past her shoulders.

"Guess what brother!" Mia exclaimed once she and Michael stopped bouncing around in front of him. The small girl, quite literally much smaller for her age, bounced towards the bed and put her hands onto Astor's knees.

These two were _not_ hyped up on sugar, this was exactly how they normally acted. They were often hell to get to bed, and just about anything that was scary to them left them with nightmares that no one could quite understand. For instance, dreaming about an invisible smoking man with floating gloves giving them a flower that wilted in three days time, was one hell of a freaky dream. Even weirder, they both had the same dreams at the same time. If they were separate, they'd want to be together, if they couldn't be together, they'd bawl their eyes out!

This concerned their dad very much, for obvious reasons. Astor had heard the stories before, and hopefully Mia and Michael would be okay to separate as the years went on. He cleared his throat as Mia continued to bounce and tell him to guess what her news was. He held his smile and leaned forward. "I don't know Mia, what is it?"

"A new guy came by today, looking for Aveline!" _Another_ suitor? He understood the whole process of trying to find a person to rule with Aveline when her Term came up, but this was just absurd. The balls were fine, it didn't matter when they were invited, but the men who randomly showed up at the door? Those men were the ones that he thought were too far and too many. "Do you know where Aveline is?"

"She went somewhere, but is the guy still here?"

"Yeah, he's in the dining room with Mommy and Daddy!"

"Okay!" This took precedent over the dance show, so he quickly got up and looked back to his cousins. "August, Wilbert, can you uh…keep Mia and Michael occupied? I'll make it up to you guys later." The two boys instantly frowned and looked to the twins with expressions of terror. "Thanks!" He bolted from the room, listening delightedly as his siblings started their hyper laughs.

He made his way into the kitchen, stopping at the doorframe and scanned the surroundings. At the large oval table were his parents with the guest. His father had bulked up over the years, grown his hair out close to his shoulder, and the same striking eyes that never faded over the years. His mom looked almost exactly as she did when she was young, her auburn hair was a few inches shorter now, and she didn't have any bangs, nor did she show signs of age. Though, she did have some stress lines at her mouth. She was as she always had been, a strong, yet compassionate mother. She was holding onto Kuno, the small four-year-old child that was cuddled close to her chest. Kuno was the one of his siblings with brown hair. His head was shaped like a tomato, and whenever Kuno started to cry or get upset, he actually _looked_ like a tomato.

Then there was the guest. He was a skinny looking slack-jawed man with a large frame. His hair was slicked back with what was an overload of hair gel or grease, and his eyes were so wide that he looked like an alien. He was seated with his back straight, and his hands folded over on the table. Astor could smell _pompous_ as though it were a type of fragrance.

"Oh, this is our son, Prince Astor." Cece remarked with a gentle smile. "Astor, would you introduce yourself?" Astor grinned and quickly moved for the table.

"Hi, I'm Astor. Mom, Dad, you mind if I talk to him in private? I just want to get to know him." His parents looked at each other with uncertain, nervous gazes. Gunther started to respond, but held back. This wasn't the first time Astor requested to talk alone with one of the potential suitors that came by. "Don't worry, I only want to talk. I _promise_."

"I'm not sure." Cece looked down at Kuno, who was beginning to sniffle. Her face twisted and Gunther moved his hand up to his nose. Kuno _still_ wasn't exactly potty trained. He was getting there, but it was just another thing that was difficult.

"Looks like someone needs to change him," Gunther muttered. Cece held Kuno up as the boy began to cry.

"I see that." They weren't sure if it had to do with his fear of water or not, or if that were another thing entirely. Sometimes, though, Kuno would be staring at the water in the toilet for hours, never daring to sit on it. When the child was just two years old, the family had gone out to a lake nearby and he'd fallen in. Mia and Michael pulled him out, but it was _likely_ that's where his fear of water came from. "I'll get to work. Gunther help me out…and Astor, be _nice_ to our guest!"

"Don't worry mom, I'll be nice." Smiling sweetly, he watched his parents leave the room. He could see the man watching, uncertain. Astor casually moved to the chair next to him and slowly shook his head. "It's such a shame. That happens to little Kuno all the time, I'm afraid he's just not potty trained."

"Really, you don't say?"

"Yeah, and most of the time Aveline's changing him. You know, as the guy, you'd have to help her." The man raised an eyebrow as Astor slowly nodded. He didn't want some random, nauseating guy hanging around his sister. Hell, she had enough of those types of men around, so it was his job to look after her. "There's no question about it, you're _required_ to get knee deep in little Kuno's mess. That's not even the _half_ of it!"

"There's more?" The man began to turn green. Astor leaned back, smirking triumphantly.

"Oh yes, but I shouldn't burden you with all that. What is your name?"

"Sir Markus…"

"Sir Markus? Well it's a pleasure to meet you. I'd shake your hand, but I'm just always sweating. I hope you don't mind a cold and clammy handshake." Markus moved his hand to his mouth as Astor offered up his hand. He'd just run it under some water on the way over, so it was plenty cold. "What? You're not afraid of germs, I hope. Mom keeps this place really clean, and the maids are always making sure everything's spotless, but there's always _something_ they're bound to miss. No one's perfect, you know. The twins are always running all over the place…you don't have a problem with headaches, I hope."

"Ugh…" Markus rubbed his temples and leaned forward. His eyes hovered on the exit. Astor chuckled and listened as his cousins started running through the hall nearby, screaming about the twins being too hyper for them. "What was that?"

"Oh, my cousins, I asked them to look after Princess Mia and Prince Michael, but I guess they were too much. You know, as Aveline's suitor, you may have to watch over those two on a regular basis."

"I-I don't know if I can do that. You see, I have chronic migraines. I take medicine." He clicked his tongue and folded his arms across his chest.

"Well I hate to say it, but you absolutely must follow your duties that are tasked to you. When Aveline's Term comes, she's going to be so busy with the rule that you have to do everything else." This may not be the entire truth, but he was known to embellish things just a little bit. Perhaps he hung out with Uncle Flynn too often. "Anyway Aveline's not here right now. She's probably off on one of her adventures, she's a _very_ adventurous girl." That part was true, Aveline loved to explore whatever it was she could find. "You're going to have to be able to keep up with her, no straggling behind. I hope you enjoy rock climbing, hiking through the woods, swimming in the lakes, and you know…basically getting all dirty and sweaty."

Markus started to sweat and pull on his collar, this man didn't seem the type to enjoy hard labor work. No, the minute he got splashed in the face with a little mud, Markus might easily freak out. Astor moved his hands behind his head and gazed off as his parents started to reenter the room. His work was done, all he had to do was plant one seed. This man was more readable than Kuno's children's literature books! It was laughable! There was no way in hell he would be able to be a match for Aveline. Now the only question was, who _was_ this guy that she was dating?

Cece gazed apologetically at Markus while Kuno walked into the room, rubbing his eyes. "I'm so sorry about that, Sir Markus. Now, about Aveline, I _know_ you're wanting to talk about her hand in marriage, but all decisions must be made with her available. I can't find her anywhere, but regardless, we _need _to know about you."

"Exactly," Gunther replied in his gruff fatherly tone. Gunther was _always_ overprotective of Aveline. Many men didn't even get to the door before Gunther started digging in on them and drilling them. "I want to know exactly how you are like, what your behavior is like, and how you'll treat Aveline. She's more important to us than every hair on your body." He'd seen plenty of guys mess around and hurt his daughter in one way or another, and most of those guys were ordered away with the assistance of _Rocky_. It was well known within the family that when Gunther sent Rocky on someone, things were going to get serious. "That being said, if you hurt a single hair on my daughter's body, you will not see my good side."

"A-Actually, I seem to be second guessing myself," Markus stated with a series of nervous chuckles. Astor held his smirk and watched as the man stumbled to his feet, nearly tripping over the chair. "I don't think I will consider this."

"You're changing your mind, then?"

"Yes sir, I apologize. Uh, thank you for your time!" Markus shot out of the room like his butt had just caught fire. Feeling rather proud of himself, Astor rose to his feet and stated towards the door. Before he could go another step, he heard his mother call out to him.

"Stop right there Astor," Cece ordered. He stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes. "What did you say to the man?" He needed a smooth recovery here, and fast. He smiled and turned around, looking up and hoping to charm his mother. This was no easy task.

"I only said that Aveline was the adventurous type." Cece put her hands to her hips and shot him a skeptical look.

"I swear, Flynn is a bad influence on my children…"

Gunther laughed and put his arm around her shoulders, "It seems more genetics than anything, dear." Cece closed her eyes and breathed out her defeat. She was far too stressed today to deal with another issue, and it wasn't that much of an issue to start with. "Come, let's get some rest. There's a lot of stuff we're having to deal with lately, so it pays to relax."

"I suppose I could use a nap before Aveline's archery lesson."

"Right." He gave her a quick peck on the lips, and she began making her way to her room. Gunther walked over to Astor and put his hand to his shoulder, winking slightly. "Good job, my boy. I didn't care too much for Sir Markus either." Astor laughed once as his father hugged him.

"What's the hard stuff we're dealing with now, Dad?"

"Well you know the Bransford family, right?" Astor quickly nodded and started to fill with joy as he thought about Astrid. "Well Frankie is considering moving back here now that his son's started taking some college work over here. So we're hoping to bring him back over and put his family as nobles once more. Maybe not one of the Parliament nobles, but a noble family nonetheless."

"That would be fantastic, but what about everything that's going on over there? I mean isn't Mr. Bransford a coach?"

"Yeah, he's looking for some teaching jobs here. It's really a surprise for our families, but your mom figured it out."

"She's mom, it's almost impossible to surprise her." Gunther laughed and nodded his head. There was no arguing that fact, so perhaps that was why Rocky didn't throw her any surprise parties. "Anyway, I'd love to see them again."

"Well, one day, after all the preparations are made. It'll be good to have Frankie over here, I won't have to deal with him trying to give me advice an ocean away." Gunther's eyes drifted over to the clock and he slowly tapped his chin. "I think your show is on, so I won't keep you."

"All right dad, love you."

"Love you too, son."

* * *

So Astor, kind of resembles Flynn a little. What did you guys think of the chapter? What did you like, and etc? Anything surprising you?


	3. Settling Into the Apartment

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 3 (Settling into the Apartment)

"Lucky, you get a dorm room without a roommate?" Aveline was astonished by the college room that Ander was getting. The campus was located within the Royal District, Sviederbach University, and Ander's room was part of the campus apartments. So in truth, he didn't just have a room to himself, he shared an apartment with three other guys.

His room, however, was a small rectangular room with tan walls and a window at the corner, straight across from the door. There was an eight foot length between the door and window, and a fifteen foot length between the walls. Ander's computer desk was propped up against the window, so he was able to look out at the view from his upper story apartment while working. His bed, a simple twin mattress, was propped up against the long wall, with the headboard against the short wall. On the other side of the wall was a closet for his clothing. Everything he needed was in one room. "I share the apartment, Ave. This is just my room, we all share the living room and kitchen outside. It isn't a coed, so it's just us four guys."

"Should I not be here, then?"

"From what I understand, you're fine. The regulation is visitors, even female ones, are welcome in the apartments and dormitories, but they can't stay past eleven o'clock." That could be tough, considering she probably wouldn't be able to slip out of the castle until close to that time. "There's no real curfew on campus, so I can stay outside, _but_ I probably want to get to know my roommates before I start staying out past midnight. Who knows when they start going to bed."

"You should all have a key to get in. Just be quiet when you're the last one." She moved over to the luggage on his bed and started to open it so she could help him unpack. There was a small dresser in between the bed and closet, as behind her there was a small TV stand between the wall and desk. Ander moved over and casually grabbed the particular bag she was about to work on, filled with linens. She smirked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What? You don't want me handling your undergarments?"

"You got it." He smirked back at her and tossed the bag on top of his dresser. "I got something for you, though." She watched him reach into the bag, then stood on her toes to try and peek. He shook his finger in the air, still smirking. "Ah-uh, eyes closed, no peeking." She rolled her eyes and turned around, crossing her arms.

"Ugh, fine." She couldn't _stand_ surprises, much like her mother. She wanted to know what was going on. What did he have for her? It was eating her away! She felt him pull her hair back, then something delicate touched her neck. She moved her hand up to her chest and started to open her eyes, only to be told once more to keep her eyes shut. "What _is_ it? A necklace?"

"Not just a necklace, take a look now." Her eyes flew open and she quickly looked to her chest, spying a golden heart connected to a gold chain. The heart had a tiny blue gem on the surface, and a small latch on the side. "Open it up."

"You got me a locket?" The necklace itself was breathtaking, and very simple. She _loved_ simple things. She was afraid he would have gotten her something extravagant, but he already was well aware that she wasn't an extravagant girl. As she turned to him, she saw him watching with a warm smile. "It's beautiful…" She carefully opened the locket, making sure to handle it with a delicate finesse, so as not to damage anything.

When she managed to get the side unlatched, she saw two photographs inside. The one on the right was a picture of her, glaring at the photographer. The picture on the left was of Ander, he was wearing his baseball uniform and cap. She remembered this day, the photos were part of one picture taken on the day they met. The photographer made a joke because she clumsily dropped her hotdog onto her shirt while trying to take the picture. Ander was in the process of trying to tell her that it was _fine_, so the photograph came out with her glaring at the photographer, and Ander talking.

Aveline laughed and closed the locket, then moved her arms around her boyfriend's neck. "I love it! Thank you." It was her favorite memory, and now she could remember it all the time. She would definitely keep the necklace safe, it didn't need to go in her box of memoirs quite yet. She had quite a big box stuffed away beneath her bed containing at least one item from every crucial moment in her life, among which, included a rattle from her infant years. Ander teased her about her collection, almost as much as her little brother did, but these items were very important to her. She also kept a journal stashed away in the box as well, so not only could she collect these memories, she could write about them in her daily logs. "I'm going to wear this all the time, Ander."

"Think your Mom and Dad will notice?"

"I can keep it covered up." Still her father _had_ become observant over the years, just as her grandfather was. Then, there was her mother, who was almost always observant as hell. The only difference was, Cece had the ability to make her spill her guts while already fully knowledgeable. She says she got it from her own mother. "Speaking of people noticing things, do you think anyone's going to notice your name? I mean your father is pretty famous here."

"Really? Eh, maybe a few eyebrows will raise, I don't know." She hummed and turned around to the rest of the luggage while he moved to the bag on the dresser. "Seriously though, how 'famous' or 'infamous' is my dad? I don't think we've ever talked about that."

"Well, he's considered one of the country's heroes, in a way." Frankie Bransford is held as the famous president of Parliament who not only avenged the loss of his family, the high Bransford Nobility, but he unveiled a corrupt king, and brought Gunther back to restore the kingdom. "It's highly regarded that if not for your father, my dad would never have come back to the kingdom. So basically, I'd be living in Chicago right now, you and your mom would have still been in that dungeon…" Ander shuddered and gagged, leaving her to feel bad for bringing up the memory. He _did_ on occasion still have dreams from those days, nightmares that never really went away. "I think Sviederbach would have been destroyed by now, if it hadn't been for your dad getting my dad over here in the first place."

"Oh, and here I thought I was going to be looked at like the son of a criminal, not the son of a hero." He started to mutter and push his underwear into the top drawer. Aveline turned and smirked at the boxers he was putting in. They were all solid colors, but at least one pair had the words _'Mama's Boy' _ written on the top. He caught her staring and quickly shoved the drawer shut, clearing his throat. "Uh yeah, you didn't see anything, right?"

"Oh please, it's not like I don't already know you're a mama's boy. You practically bawled the first night realizing you had to come over here."

"I did not." Still, he was trying to retain whatever dignity he had left?

"Do you _really_ want to make that bet?" She laughed at him and pulled his laptop from the bag on the bed. It was a sleek silver laptop, still a Dell, which approved vastly over the years. She moved it over to his desk, taking the bag of cords along with her. "You have every right, look at the first two years of your life."

"Smart ass." He kissed the back of her neck, sending chills down her spine. She closed her eyes as her back and neck tingled. She hated the feeling, because it actually turned her on, and she did _not _want to have to deal with that weakspot. It was also used whenever he wanted a comeback. She glared at the triumphant smirk of his and watched him reach down into the bag, pulling out the power cord. "At least I'm turning more into my father than my mom, mom still has some issues with confidence. I think she's still really sore from that era, but she doesn't show it so much."

"I like your mom, she's strong and always optimistic about everything. It's very hard to tell she went through that traumatic era. I'll bet she still never lets your dad down for that fight, though." Ander whistled and shook his head. He quickly attached the cord to the laptop while she attached the other end to the outlet. "By the way, you know those competitions that royal families have? You think you'd ever participate in one of those 'win-her-hand' things?" Fortunately she never had to deal with one of those yet, she might die of embarrassment if _that_ ever happened. Ander raised an eyebrow and lifted his shoulders up.

"I already have you, so why would I go in one of those things? I don't really believe in them, you know. For the record, neither does my dad."

"Why?"

Ander bent upwards and moved his hand to his forehead. "Well…considering the last 'win this' competition my dad was involved with consisted of him nearly getting his head lopped off by your dad…"

"Okay, your dad _literally_ asked for that. If Mrs. Bransford hadn't gone out there at that time…"

"Exactly! Besides, why would I need to compete for your hand when I'm perfectly confident?" She raised an eyebrow and huffed, though still smiling.

"I won't dignify that with a response."

"You just did."

"Oh screw you."

He laughed and hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. "God I love you." She leaned back in his arms and turned to kiss his lips. After a few seconds into the kiss, she turned around and put her hands to his shoulder, letting him pull her closer. It seemed they forgot the door was open, so when they heard whooping and hollering, they immediately split apart.

* * *

And the college roommates are here *sigh*. We'll be seeing them next chapter, at least one of em is cool XD. So what did you like about this chapter? Anything stand out?


	4. Apartment Rules

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 4 (Apartment Rules)

Aveline leapt out of the way, her cheeks red with embarrassment as Ander stepped in the doorway, rubbing the back of his head. All three of his roommates, and some girl standing behind one, were watching and clapping. "Way to _go_ man!" One of them exclaimed. "Your first day here and you've already got yourself a girl!" Ander lowered his arm and pointed to the roommate with his girlfriend.

"What about those two? He's new here also…"

"Well yes that's a given, but _da-amn_, you're here making out with not just any girl. The Princess herself!" Aveline fell onto the bed and groaned while he quickly tried to cover it up and protest. There truly was no denying it, however.

"Seriously, you can't tell _anyone_." Aveline leaned forward and peered at the door, hoping to get a view of the people. The man talking seemed Ander's age, was wearing a jocks uniform, had a bit of a bigger build and a strong jaw. His head was shaped almost like a mountain, or a block, and his hair was spiked and sandy brown. Until she learned his name, she would refer to him as spiky. Yes, that seemed a perfect title for him. She chuckled inwardly, then smacked herself mentally for the thought.

The man not saying anything at all was a skinny boy about eighteen or nineteen by the looks of him. He was wearing a pair of thick glasses, had a light brown stubbly goatee, and blonde hair parted on the right and combed over to the left. The man with the girl was tall, about the same build as Ander, if not a little stronger. He had an oval face, piercing green eyes, brown hair spiked backwards, unlike the jock, and a bit of a scowl. She had a very bad feeling about him, but didn't want to say anything. The girl behind him looked a tad shy. She had extremely long brown hair which went out to her thighs. Her lips were twisted into a tiny smirk, and her eyes were wide and brown. She was about a foot shorter than the man she was with. He was about 6''4', she was about 5''4. Her wrists were hidden behind her back, and her hair seemed to cloak her heart shaped face.

"Why tell anyone you're shackin' it up with the Princess?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, we are _not_ doing that!" The jock appeared unimpressed. Aveline rested a hand on her cheek and sighed as everyone started to enter the room. Why was it she felt like she was on display here? Ander backed up in front of her and extended his arms out to the side in defense. Her eyes locked onto the other woman in the room. What was it about this woman that was catching her attention? This woman and her boyfriend, something was just off about them. "We've been dating a while, that's all. You can't tell anyone yet…"

"It's fine." The jock put his hands up in surrender, then extended his hand. "Anyway, I'm Art Caden, I've been here for a couple years. The other roommates moved on to other places. So I'll give you the runabout if you'd like." Art turned to the others in the room and pointed to each of them. "Anyway these guys showed up before you, so…the skinny guy is Odo Reginald. Then these guys over here are cultural students Martin Lamont and Mala Nils."

"Right, I met them on the plane." He waved at the two, but received no response. Aveline raised her eyebrow and leaned back on her palms, sighing as everyone continued staring at her. She felt it would be rude to tell them off. "I'm Ander, uh…Bransford…" Mala looked up to him, and Martin's cold gaze flicked from Aveline towards Ander.

"No _way!_ Get out of here!" Art laughed and quickly shook his hand, patting Ander on the back. "Well, you'll fit right at home here, it's good to meet you." Aveline smiled at the man and watched him point out the door. "So I'm right next door, Martin and Odo are in the hallway on the other side of the living room." Lowering his arm, he cleared his throat and started scratching his left thigh. "Anyway uh, oh yeah! I'm usually up studying until two, my classes are later in the day, so if any of you guys are out past like eleven or twelve, that's fine. I'll be awake. If you're out past two don't bother coming home!" Ander's face fell and the others stared at Art. After a minute, Art laughed and pat their shoulders. "I'm kidding! You got keys, just be quiet when you get in! Also, whatever's in the pantry or fridge, if you don't label it with your name, it's fair game for _everyone._ So if you lose something, don't complain! Got it?"

"Y-Yeah, we got it. Anything else?" Art paused and looked from Aveline to Mala. He held up two index fingers and cleared his throat.

"Right! Next rule. This goes for you two, Odo doesn't look like he has a girlfriend-"

"Hey!" Odo protested. Art raised an eyebrow and beckoned whether or not he had one. Odo's response was merely bowing his head. Aveline stifled a chuckle and cupped her hand over her mouth. "Okay so I don't have a girlfriend…I just don't like being singled out."

"Okay, bearing that in mind. Now Ander, Martin, during the night I do _not_ want to hear your girlfriends. Do you dig me?" Aveline raised an eyebrow and Mala shifted uncomfortably. "Meaning, you, Princess…" She sat upright and Art lifted a hand up. "I don't mind you being here, mi casa es su casa, and all that. I can be perfectly casual and fine with you here, I won't even say anything about you being here. When you're here, same goes for Mala, help yourselves. However as the curfew of the campus states, Mala needs to be at _her_ dorm by eleven, and Aveline needs to be back at her castle by at least midnight. Don't try to sneak them into the apartment, otherwise we'll _all_ get in trouble for having a girl over, but also, Odo is probably trying to sleep or study, and I'll be trying to sleep or study. If you have to do anything sexual, any fighting, take it elsewhere."

The next person that decided to make anyone think they had sex, she would snap their heads off. "We don't have sex," Aveline said with narrow eyes. "I'm _not_ like that."

"I understand that, and I respect that, I'm merely saying…" Art cleared his throat and turned to Martin and Mala. "You understand as well, right? At least by eleven, if not eleven, midnight at the latest, the girls need to be _gone_." Martin nodded his head and put his arm around Mala's waist. "Okay good."

"Sure seems like there's a lot of rules, Artie."

"It's _Art_, Aveline, just _Art_." She chuckled and moved her right leg over her left. She didn't mind him calling her Aveline at all. She wanted to clear up whether or not he would do that or call her Princess. "So Ander, you're cultural studies like Martin and his girl?" Ander slowly nodded his head, earning a suspicious look from the jock. "You're the son of Frankie Bransford, why the hell do you need to do cultural studies in a country that you should already know everything a-" Art's eyes flipped over to Aveline. Her eyebrows bounced up and down and he slowly bowed his head. "Right, your girlfriend…"

"And this place _is_ where I'm from," Ander replied as casually as possible. "Can't possibly go wrong here."

"I hope you feel at home."

"I do, first day here and it has a strange connection. Different than just _visiting_, I live here now. At least for two semesters…"

"You should talk to your dad about moving back, you know Sviederbach would take him back, right? I mean hell, he could even get on Parliament…"

"I don't think he's too interested in Parliament, but I haven't _heard_ anything about them moving here. It would be nice if he did, it's great to reconnect with my roots. It's kind of sad I won't be a part of the baseball team back home, but oh well." Art stepped beside Ander and put an arm around his shoulders, patting his shoulder while smirking.

"Glad to hear it. As for baseball, we _do_ have a sports program here. Choose any program you like. I'm actually studying to be a personal trainer."

"Cool."

"Yes." Art looked to Odo with an eager smile. "Odo, what are you attending for?" Odo quickly looked up, stammering at first. Art spun his hand in the air, pushing him to speak. "Come on Odo, we can't have this man. You got to talk, socialize bro!" Martin raised an eyebrow and Odo nodded.

"Right sorry. I'm just a transfer, I've heard good things about the college and their programs. Um, I'm here for video game design…"

"Great!"

Martin snickered once and shook his head. "Looks like we need to beat the shyness out of him." Aveline rolled her eyes as Art jumped up, in idea mode once more.

"Right! That reminds me, the other rule, no violence! We're all bros here, there should be no fighting amongst each other. If there is, _I_ have to step in and settle things, and if I have to settle things, then it's going to get ugly. Got that?" Ander chuckled and Martin agreed. "Good!"

Remembering she was almost late, and Estelle was likely waiting outside the apartment, Aveline quickly rose up. She pat down her dress as the others looked towards her. "Sorry guys, I need to get going. I'm about to be late for Mom's training session, so I'll leave you to hang out. It was good to meet you, Art. Also, just call me Ave or Aveline."

"All right." Art saluted her with two fingers and she quickly pecked Ander on the cheek.

"I'll call you later Ander, let me know how it goes. Love you!" He hugged her goodbye, then she went on her way. Just as she reached the door, she heard Art laugh and compliment Ander once more. She smiled and rolled her eyes, surely the man would get over the fact that his roommate was dating the princess. She didn't think she could deal with that excitement every day. It did look like Ander would have a good time with these roommates of his at least, she thought they were great people. Although, something just seemed off about Martin and Mala, it felt like she'd heard his name before. _Martin Lamont_, it just sounded oddly familiar.

No matter, her biggest issue now was getting home before her mom noticed she was late!

* * *

Well, tell me your observations. What did you like, notice anything?


	5. Training

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N: Okay, IMPORTANT: The reason this chapter is short-I wound up going in and finding out the entire chapter was completely missing! From my computer AND the flash drive! Fortunately, I had posted the crucial parts (at least one to two thirds of the chapter) in to a friend on Skype, so I'll be posting that...along with chapter 6, in order to make up for the loss of chapter 5. Good god...

* * *

Chapter 5 (Training)

When Aveline returned home, she rushed to her bedroom in order to get dressed for her archery training, and was annoyed to find Astor waiting in her bedroom. "What are you doing in my room, Astor?" He grinned at her and leaned against the bed, shrugging his shoulders.

"I was only waiting for you to get home, our lessons are about to start. Mom's been looking all over for you." She groaned and let her head tilt back. Astor swept off his arms and let out a sharp exhale. "By the way, another dude came over wanting your hand in marriage, but he was kind of gross. He changed his mind after a while, I don't really know why, he was the perfect match for you." She raised an eyebrow and resisted the urge to knock him upside the head. She wanted to wipe that devious smirk off his face before he started making any further quips, but that wouldn't go over too well with her parents. Ah, if only she could throw into a creek and watch as he floated away. "So where were you anyway?"

"None of your business, Astor." She hurried to her closet, hoping to find her training outfit. She didn't like to practice her archery in her good clothes, it took forever to clean them when they got dirty. As she reached into her closet, she could hear Astor fiddling around with the drawer. "Hey! Don't touch that!" Thinking fast, she leapt across the room and slammed the drawer shut before he could do anything. "Quit messing around with my things! God…how many times do I have to tell you?" Astor hummed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well we're assuming that since there's 365 days in a year, we'll probably live until we're eighty, and you tell me five times a day, do the math from now till then."

She did not have time for this. She rolled her eyes and rumbled out a growl. "Just get out of my room." She started pushing him towards the door. "Tell Mom I'll be out in a minute." Astor looked back for a minute, allowing himself to be pushed out of her room. He spun around and smiled at her.

"So when are you going to tell me who the boyfriend is?" Her heart stopped for a split second, and in a moment of quick recovery, she shot him a disgusted look. "Let me in on the secret and I don't tell mom you've been sneaking out without her knowing." He couldn't know, that would be impossible! He had nothing on her, and besides, she'd easily learned how to make a good comeback.

"What boyfriend? Let me get dressed. Also, you don't tell mom I've been sneaking out, and I don't tell her you've been getting into the after dinner cookies and staying up until four in the morning again." She smirked triumphantly, watching with pride as the color drained from him. She knew all his little secrets, and it paid to know him.

"Blackmailing the blackmailer, good move sister. Good move." Her lip curled into a smug smirk and she quickly closed her door.

"Now let me get dressed!"

-TRANSITION-

"Mom half the men that come around are abusive, forceful, controlling, and none of them fit the bill. Why can't we just face the fact that there are probably no men out there that aren't only wanting the throne or some trophy wife. They all expect me to be some damn Cinderella or Snow White for that matter. Well I'm not." She reached for the bow, swiftly lifted it up and grabbed an arrow. In seconds, she aimed the arrow at a round target on a distant tree and shot the arrow, striking it just a hair above the bulls-eye. "I'm not a weak 'fair maiden'!"

"Aveline…" Cece stepped in front of her and she slowly lowered the bow. Adrenaline was beginning to flood her veins as she sought to shake the memory of the last man that came around. This man shook her up, threw her against the wall when she spoke up against him and began to slap her, ordering her to be quiet. She snarled at the memory and clenched her eyes shut, trying to force it away.

_"I refuse to be a trophy!" Aveline exclaimed, struggling to push the heavy set man off of her. Boy did her family know how to pick them, this was a politician from Russia who desperately wanted a king. Russians were known for their force, and this man was no different. "Get off me, I said!"_

_ "You should be obedient, women are meant to be quiet." Her cheeks stung from the pain of his hand slapping against her face. The more she struggled against him, the more volatile he became. He was strong, but she was stronger, or so she thought. "Now be quiet and let me talk, woman!"_

_ "Fuck you! I already told you I wasn't giving you my hand." _

_ "Sviederbach chose me."_

_ "No they did not. In the end it is my decision!" With one final push, she managed to throw him off her. She quickly got up and hurried for the door, hearing Astor's voice behind it. "Astor! Get Rocky!" She yelped as he pulled her dress, tearing it and forcing her back onto the bed. Her body was aching and completely sore, but she was not giving up the fight. _

_ Once he jumped onto her, pinning her down, she wasn't sure how long she struggled to break free from his grasp. The next thing she knew, she heard the door flying open, and Karla shouting for her mom to 'get him'. Her eyes flipped open as the man was ripped from her and thrust against the wall. She quickly sat up in time to see Rocky smashing her knee into the man's abdomen multiple times. Karla was watching, cheering Rocky on, and Astor had climbed up beside her, holding onto her hand as she counted each heavy breath that fell from her lips. _

_ Her father entered the room, full of rage. Cece would have been as well, but she was currently at the law office, working on some paperwork. Granted, she would soon know what was going on, because that was directly where this man would be going next. "How dare you strike my daughter!" Gunther exclaimed, pushing Rocky from the man, and grabbing him by the throat. The man started to whimper and sweat as Gunther glared into his eyes. "I invite you into my home and how do you repay me? Be glad I am not a violent king, or I would have your hide, and be glad my wife is at work, because she would have your hide!" _

_"Let me arrest him Gunther," Rocky muttered. "He'll be going down to the office anyway, so Cece will definitely have some words for him…" Aveline wiped her mouth as Astor leaned his head against her arm. She knew this man would be suffering several nightmares when her mother got through with him, there was no escaping the Queen's wrath when someone messed with her family. Everyone in Sviederbach knew and understood this. It was never the King you had to worry about, but the Queen. _

"Aveline, open your eyes…" Her mom's soft voice mellowed her nerves, her warm hands were resting on her cheeks and warming her face. She slowly opened her eyes, blurred by a bit of mist. Cece leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry that you have to deal with all of the hell, and I know it's hard. It's tough because Sviederbach wants the heir to have a spouse soon…I really would like to stop letting all these men come around, because I know it hurts you…"

"We do have an idea of someone who we think would be good for you," Gunther added with a subtle smile. She looked towards him, then back to her mother's gentle eyes, listening still as her father talked. "It's kind of hard to get him though, because his family's not a noble yet, nor are they actually over here, so…I don't know how that's going to work."

She rolled her eyes and smiled as Cece pulled her back into a hug. She was calming down, and really just wanted to get on with the archery lesson. "I guess I should just start being here for the selections, huh?" She knew it was virtually impossible for them to get deep into a man who knew how to impress a king and queen. What kind of idiot is going to tell the royal family that he only wants their daughter for a trophy? "You guys need to stop letting these men slip past you." Cece chuckled and agreed with her. "Anyway, can we uh…please get started with the lesson?

* * *

Still pissed...but I hope you enjoyed what I managed to rescue ^_^. Moving on to chapter 6 now


	6. Just One of the Guys

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 6 (Just One of the Guys)

The next day, Estelle took Aveline over to Ander's apartment after his classes were over, which was in the late afternoon. She'd already gotten the basic layout of the apartment memorized. There were two halls on either end of the apartment with three doors, two on the sides and one in the middle, so the hall was shaped almost like a plus sign. The hall that faced the apartment door held Ander's and Art's room. Ander's door was in the middle, facing the apartment door. The bathroom was on the right, and Art's room was on the left. Outside the hall was basically one giant square space, with the couch propped up against a flat wall. The wall turned at a corner and held a doorway that faced sideways, to the immediate left of the apartment door. Through there was the second hallway, with Martin's bedroom on the left, Odo's bedroom on the right, and the bathroom right next door.

To the right of the apartment's entrance was a long L-shaped counter, framing the kitchen. On the other side of the counter was another counter, with cabinets above it. A washer and drier were on the other side of the refrigerator, which was on the end of the counter against the wall. There was no wall separating the kitchen from the living area, and straight across from the grey couch was a flat screen television.

When she arrived, Ander and Art were sitting on the couch with some hot dogs and watching a wrestling match on the television. Odo was at the kitchen counter, grilling both hotdogs and hamburgers. Art looked up from the couch and lifted his hand. "Yo Ander, your lady's here." Ander quickly rose from the couch and rounded the corner to greet Aveline.

"Hey Ave, Odo can cook! Do you want a hotdog or a hamburger?" She looked over to Odo with a polite smile as the man held up metal tongs. Her stomach rumbled and her nose delighted in the scent of spiced hamburger patties.

"I could go for a hamburger, I suppose." Immediately Odo went to work on preparing a hamburger for her. When asked if she wanted any onions, she declined. Ander hugged her close and let her know he missed her. "Well it's only been a day. I see you're making friends with the roommates?"

"You bet, although Martin doesn't come out much." She frowned and looked to the hallway where Martin's room was. "Mala's been hanging around a lot, seems like he doesn't really want her to leave. Hell, even now she's with him in his room, studying the material given in today's classes. I swear those two need some space once in a while…"

"I guess we may as well not disturb them." She heard Art clear his throat, then Ander quickly turned towards the television as Art's head poked around the corner wall.

"You're missing the fight, come on! Love these things." She raised an eyebrow and followed Ander over to the couch. Ander sat on the middle cushion and she sat down to his left, then put her head down on his shoulder. She didn't _mind _watching the fights, and wasn't about to ask them to change the channel. After all, she'd come into their home, she didn't want to be rude. "I get a lot of my boxing moves from here, helps in my classes."

"Personal trainer, right Art? Do you take Martial Arts?"

"Krav Maga. It was a mix between that and Judo, but I decided to go for that." Art folded his arms over and looked back towards the front. "I have to say, Martin and his girlfriend spent a great deal of fighting yesterday, it was irritating as hell. Don't even know what the crap they were fighting about, she got Martin all ticked off. Can't respect a man that yells at his lady."

"We had to convince Martin to let her go to her place last night," Ander remarked. A sharp pain struck her chest as she looked over her shoulder at the wall, as though trying to look through it. She was curious whether or not it would do her any good to talk to Mala or not. She at least wanted to see if there was any use to talk to Martin, but then, it wasn't right to meddle. "I don't know what they're doing in there, but I wouldn't worry too much…" He put his arm around her shoulders. Deciding he was right, she shrugged and moved her head to his. Her stomach rumbled once more, and her eyes drifted over to the hamburger that Odo was making. The delicate aroma tantalized her, and the appearance was enough to make her drool.

She probably stared at that hamburger for a full minute before Odo picked up the plate and made his way over. With each step, the longing inside her heart increased. Ander teased her a bit, but she ignored him, reaching up for the brilliant sandwich. Odo couldn't even hand the plate to her before she swiped it from him. The men watched with laughing eyes as she began to shove the food into her mouth.

"What?" She took a pause and started to swallow the meat, not wanting to talk with her mouth full. "So maybe I'm not the _cleanest_ person around, I'm hungry. I have a right to eat like a pig." Ander laughed and kissed her head while Art merely bowed and attempted to hold back a snicker.

"First I heard a princess say that." She narrowed her eyes at him and huffed. Her stomach begged for another bite, and she happily obliged, inhaling the burger. Odo raised an eyebrow and folded his arms over.

"Would you like another?"

"Yes please!" Ander smacked his forehead and her glare snapped into his direction. "You try being hungry all the time. Sneaking around works up an appetite, you know!" Odo removed the plate and started back towards the kitchen. Aveline crossed her arms as both Ander and Art continued to laugh. "Oh come on, you act like you've never seen a girl down a hamburger before."

Before she could say anything, harsh words erupted from the hallway behind them. Everyone stopped and Art looked back with a grown. Something slammed against the wall, then the door slammed shut. The trio rose to their feet as Martin stormed out of the apartment, shouting something about going for a walk. First to move was Art, Aveline followed after him into Martin's bedroom. Her heart stopped when she saw Mala beside the bed, slowly standing up. The girl looked to them with wide eyes.

"Hey Art-I um, I was looking for something." Art walked over and started to help her to her feet. Aveline's heart grew heavier as they led Mala out of the bedroom. What was the fighting all about? Was she really looking for something? She still wasn't even sure if she could truly trust these two, or at least, could she even trust Martin? "Sorry about Martin, he's been having a bad day."

"He seems to be having a _lot_ of bad days," Art replied. He faced her and started studying her face. Aveline raised her eyebrows as Ander stepped beside her, watching carefully. "What happened?" Art reached up and started to touch the tip of Mala's head. The girl flinched and he withdrew his hand as she quickly cleared her throat.

"Nothing to worry about, I hit the bed coming up. Can I have a hot dog?"

"Of course." Art moved around the counter and Aveline moved up beside Mala. The girl looked to her with a tiny smile as Aveline searched for words to say. She hoped Mala wasn't being hurt in any way, but there wasn't any proof of that.

"So, I hear you spend a lot of time here? You must enjoy it here?" She wouldn't think there was much enjoyment for hanging around four guys that might enjoy watching wrestling and sports TV constantly. "Maybe you'd like to hang at my place sometime, I'm sure it'd be more interesting than watching the boys watch wrestling." Mala raised her eyebrows and quickly shook her head.

"I couldn't possibly do that. I don't think it would be intimidating or anything but I don't think it would be a good idea for me to go there." She frowned as Mala turned her attention to the television, grunting slightly. "Besides, I don't think there's anything wrong with the boys watching wrestling. It gives them something to do."

Aveline laughed heartily, she was imagining the four roommates so engrossed in their sports shows. Super bowls would be hell if they were in America. "I bet, it's probably for the best though. Does Martin watch the shows with the guys?" Mala shrugged and leaned against the counter with a heavy sigh.

"It hasn't been that long. He hasn't said anything about being interested in what they're doing…I'm impressed you'd be here, though. That is a shock."

"Well you know, I want to be with Ander, and sometimes it's nice not to be going all over the place. Though Mom wouldn't be too thrilled that I've been sneaking around with him." She relished the thought, chuckling. Mala's face dropped and she turned fully towards the counter, resting her forearms on the top as Art set a hotdog in front of her.

"Thanks Art." Aveline furrowed her brow and tilted her head while the girl studied the food. Her face was blank and her eyes tense. "I wish I knew more about my mom, but…I don't know." Her heart sank and she stepped closer to Mala. It was hard to believe she didn't know her mother, what a painful experience that must have been for her. "I've been with Martin and his family all my life. They said Mom left me…"

"I'm sure she didn't mean to abandon you, Mala." Mala rolled her eyes and slowly closed her hands. Her body began to tremble as she fought back her tears. "Mala?"

"My mom was assaulted…They said I was the product of sexual assault. Soon after, Mom gave me away." Aveline's eyes widened and her heart screeched to a halt. She had no idea what to say. How does one respond to news like that? The poor girl must have a lot of anger, a lot of pain and trauma in her life. "I shouldn't have said that…it's really not any of your business."

"Did you…did you ever find out what happened to her?" Mala's face grew hard and her eyelids slowly sealed over. She lifted her hotdog and took a bite of it. "I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry for bringing up the subject."

"My mother…" Mala opened her eyes and slowly looked over at her. "Mom was killed many years ago. Her family, I'm not sure where they are, but mom tried-" The door flew open and Martin started walking in, glaring at Mala. Mala jumped up and spun around. "Martin!"

"Shouldn't you be finishing your homework?" Martin asked with a low growl. Aveline narrowed her eyes, her anger fueling her as she stepped in front of Mala.

"She can do whatever she wants to do, _Marty_. She's your girlfriend, not a child!" Martin shifted his fiery glare to her, but she didn't falter. "I don't take kindly to men treating their girlfriends with disrespect, and if you're going to yell at her, then you've got another thing coming."

"Whatever, _Princess_." He clenched his fists and looked over to see Art and Ander, both about ready to jump him. He scoffed and pointed a finger to Mala. "You, come on. We need to talk business." Mala stiffened as he started for the bedroom. Aveline turned to her, the girl was seemingly baffled by what just happened. It was as though she'd never had someone stand up for her.

"Sorry Mala, it's just a buildup. You shouldn't let him talk down to you or treat you poorly. You're better than that."

"I don't know if I'd say that…"

"Sure you are, don't put yourself down because you've had a bad upbringing. You'll manage." She smiled at Mala, who acknowledged her with a mere appreciative nod. Mala took a deep breath and closed her eyes as Martin called out for her. Art told her she didn't have to go back there, that he'd talk to Martin if she wanted. "Yeah, I'll do that too if you'd like…" She smirked and folded her arms over. "I have some experience dealing with assholes."

"No it's fine, but thank you Aveline…and Art." She smiled sweetly to the man. Aveline raised her eyebrow and leaned to the side a bit. Mala breathed in slowly and pushed her hands into her jean pockets. "Aveline, do you really think my mother would have bothered with me?"

"Hm? Yeah of course I do. You were her daughter, no matter what." She felt in her heart there were more to the mother's actions than she thought before, it didn't make sense that she would have just abandoned her to a random family. "Maybe she would have tried to find you before she…you know…passed away."

"Yeah, maybe. Thanks anyway…"

Once Mala went off to the room, Ander moved up to Aveline. "Well it looks like you've managed to get through whatever shell she has around her, Ave."

"She seems like she's had a really hard life." She wanted to get to know Mala some more, but didn't think it would be all that possible with Martin around. After giving it a few more moments of thought, the smell of hamburgers stole her away. "Ah don't think I've forgotten about that second hamburger, Odo!"

Ander laughed and took her hand, leading her towards the couch. "Once more, her mind goes to food."

"I _am_ still hungry."

"Of course you are."

* * *

So anything surprise you about this chapter? What are your thoughts on Martin and Mala thus far? What do you think of Aveline's love for food? XD.


	7. Frightening Invention

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 7 (A Frightening Invention)

When Aveline entered Ander's apartment a week later, she was surprised to see Martin talking with two older men that she didn't recognize. They hardly looked over at her, so she did slip by unnoticed. One man was an elder with a stern face, full white hair, and a black walking stick in his hand. The second man was middle aged, had shaggy brown hair, a soul patch on his slack-jawed chin, and piercing blue eyes. All in all, they created a very unsettling feeling within her gut.

As she walked past them, she spotted Mala leaning on the arm of the couch. Her arms were folded over her chest, and she was attempting to listen to the men speak. The week had been uneventful, and this was her first time seeing Ander since her last visit. She'd spoken many times over the phone, and several times he said Mala and Martin were either bickering with one another. Every attempt at trying to talk to Mala failed, the girl just wouldn't talk to her. Either that, or Martin didn't _want_ that.

She figured out who he was, however, Martin Lamont. His ancestor was Rodger Klemens, Moritz Klemen's son. The same ancestor of Stefan Lamont, who assassinated Eighth Term Ruler, Astor Heinrike. He hadn't done anything yet, but she asked Ander to keep a close eye on him just in case. Ander so graciously said Art was already doing that, but mostly for other issues regarding Mala. She had to confirm whether the connection was true, so she did so with a very recent, though controversial invention. This was this same invention that she had with her to show Ander. He may already know of it, since many of the _wealthier_ people in the world knew of it.

"Who are those guys?" Aveline asked, entering Ander's room. He shut the door and sat on the edge of his bed. He exhaled and slowly rubbed his forehead.

"Martin's dad and grandfather. They're hard people to talk to."

"Oh." She set her blue backpack on the ground and reached inside. "Anyway, this is what I wanted to show you…" Ander tilted his head as she carefully pulled out a five-pound black disk with a red center. "You recognize it?"

"I think so." He took the disk, handling it carefully. "One of those soul-disks, isn't it?" Aveline nodded and watched him examine the object. She'd never used it before this week, in which case she was terrified. The invention was created nearly three years ago, was highly expensive, to the point that only the extremely wealthy had them. She didn't understand the mechanics of how it was made, but she understood that you could use it about two or three times in a given week before it needed to recharge for an entire week. Using it more than once on the same day would result in it breaking, needing to be sent in for repairs. The reason it was controversial was because some people considered it to be a type of witchcraft, or 'playing god'.

How the invention worked, or what it was, was a device used to call back the spirit of the dead. Whoever's spirit you called upon would remain for about an hour before they were to be called back. How the inventor of this device created it, he didn't know, but the man said he'd received his 'instructions' during a near-death experience. Amazingly, it _worked_. In order to summon a spirit, one had to prick their finger and put a drop of their blood in the hole within the center of the disk. This had to be done each time, as the blood was what made the spirit materialize outside the disk in what was a flesh-like form. Once injected, the person had to turn over the disk, where a flat keypad was, and type the name of the ancestor they wished to speak to.

"I didn't know you had one of these things," Ander muttered. "When it came out, Mom and Dad got one of them in order to talk to Uncle Alrick, but they never actually used it. They're not sure how they'd feel bringing Alrick back just to see him go away again."

"Yeah, I can understand that… It was a very scary feeling when it came time for them to go away. The spirit would simply vanish away, and by some sort of spirit law that she didn't understand, the ghost would never actually answer whether or not the many questions of afterlife were true or false. They refused to answer whether heaven or hell existed, if the Buddhists were right or if the Christians were. "It's kind of creepy. Mom and Dad were given it as a gift, but even they haven't used it. I only just used it to ask one of my ancestors if Martin Lamont was truly descended from Moritz Klemens."

"And the spirit said he was, right?"

"Pretty much…" She was still rattled by it, nor did she really want to use it again. Although, the thought of talking with _Lothar_ _himself_ was very appealing!

_Wednesday evening, Aveline sat cross-legged at the foot of her bed, staring down at the Soul-disk in front of her. Her heart was racing as she gently rubbed her index finger. It terrified her to see if this would actually work or if it was nothing but a scam. She'd heard stories, but just wasn't sure. Why couldn't she just go visit the Sviederbach Museum instead? Rather, she opted out and decided to use this strange device._

_ She'd called upon her ancestor, Sara Klemens, daughter of Moritz, and brother to Rodger. Currently, the only thing that was happening, was the little LED light beside the blood hole was flashing. "M-Maybe I should just go to the library instead. Aunt Salida would know more about the Lamont family." _

_ She hopped off the bed, shaking her head. She didn't want to believe the invention would work, and she didn't want to feel like summoning an ancestor was witchcraft. So rather than activate the machine, which she already did, she preferred to call her aunt. Now, Aunt Salida was up there in her years, surprisingly still alive. Then again, seventy-eight wasn't a bad age at all. Brunhild passed years ago, however. _

_ Aveline didn't even make it to the door before she heard someone clearing their throat. Her eyes widened and her heart screeched to a dead stop. Trembling with anxiety, she slowly turned to see a body materializing in front of her from the head down! "Oh my god…no don't faint, don't faint…" A lump formed in her throat as she pressed herself back to the wall. She was astonished, but frightened at the same time, Sara Klemens, Fifth Term Ruler, was standing directly in front of her!_

_ The woman was about her height, had a similar heart shaped face and milky smooth, skin. She had bright blue eyes, a playful smirk, and feathery brown hair with streaks of grey. Her eyes had crow's feet beside them. She wore a very long and wide green dress with a lace trim that hugged the floor. She was standing very straight with broadened shoulders. There was a faint white aura surrounding her body as well. Aveline shuddered and carefully stepped forward, feeling her ancestor's intense gaze burning into her._

_ "My dear, do your mother and father know what you have just done?" Sara asked. The woman's eyes bugged out for a split second and her hand smacked over her lips. "Oh my, that's a change. I'm used to talking with my mind in the afterlife…I swear, ever since that man invented these disks, it's been chaos!"_

_ "S-Sara?" She knew from history that Sara had lived to be sixty-five, as was the proper life expectancy rate of those years. Sara raised an eyebrow and shook a finger at her._

_ "Now, now, you should refer to me as 'Grandma'…I think." Unsure, the ghost lowered her arms and leaned back onto the bed. She gasped in shock when she _didn't_ fall through! "Well this could be potentially harmful if you brought back the wrong person…an hour to live again, the things you get to do." She cleared her throat and scratched her hair. "Anyway all that materializing shook me up a bit, can you remind me the year?"_

_ "I-It's 2030. I'm Princess Aveline, my father is Gunther Hessenheffer, the Fourteenth Term ruler of Sviederbach." Sara smacked her forehead and groaned loudly._

_ "That's quite a change from the 1700s. I'm amazed I still recall everything I do, most spirits resurrected from that thing don't recall the events they learned after death." _

_ "Really?"_

_ "No dear, if someone brought back George Washington, he'd probably not be able to answer questions about Abraham Lincoln very well. It's more of a 'luck of the draw' thing really." Aveline chuckled nervously closed her eyes, trying to settle herself down. "Take a deep breath. You used the disk, you knew what you were getting out of it."_

_ "Not really, I didn't think it would really _work_. I wonder what would happen if we walked to the kitchen…"_

_ "People might find I look remarkably similar to a portrait of Queen Sara from the late 1700s. Now, what did you want to ask me?" Now that she actually had her there, it seemed a million questions were running rampant through her head. She had to focus on the important ones though. "Just bear in mind there are certain answers we're not allowed to answer, such as…is there a Heaven or a Hell?"_

_ "I understand that." She didn't really care to ask about that, anyway. "I wanted to know if the name Martin Lamont sounds familiar to you. Does he really have ties to your father? King Moritz?" Sara raised an eyebrow and stared at Aveline as though she'd just grown another body part. "What? It's an innocent question…"_

_ "You decided to summon your ancestor when you could have just as easily looked it up?"_

_ "I _know_, I just wanted to see if the disk would work…" Sara exhaled and slowly rose to her feet. Her eyes remained shut and her body firm._

_ "Then yes. It is true, Martin Lamont is descended from the man that assassinated Astor Heinrike. That man was descended from my greedy brother, Rodger. Also, before you ask, yes Rodger was a very greedy man. He lived longer than I did, sure, but he was also younger than I was. He wouldn't have known how to rule the country properly…"_

_ "Your father isn't the only bad king we've had here in Sviederbach." Sara frowned and slowly peered over to her. "My grandfather, King Hans Brustrum was a very bad man."_

_ "Yes, I know…we were all lined up for his judgment when he passed. I am proud that your father stepped up. How is the current state of the country? Good?" _

_ "It's great!" Her heart jumped with her voice, she was very happy to inform her ancestor of the current shape of things. Of course, there was the small feeling of dread at the news that Martin was indeed related to Rodger and Moritz, but fortunately he didn't seem to be doing anything other than being a ill boyfriend. "Hey Granny Sara, are you hungry by any chance?" _

_ "Well…I haven't eaten in two hundred and twenty years, why start now? Besides, I don't believe the occupants of the castle would feel too kindly to a ghost appearing and vanishing in front of them."_

_ "Good point…I uh, I don't know if I'm going to use this disk again. I wouldn't mind meeting Lothar, if he has any advice at all for me." _

_ "When you become Queen, you could look into it then. I'm sure he'd have some tips. Any of us would…Anyway, I must be getting back, I know it's a bit early, but I personally don't believe in the use of this machine. By the way, your ancestors and I do wish to leave a message for you."_

_ "What's that, Grandmother?"_

_ "Keep an eye out on your family, and when the time comes to be vigilant, then do so. There will be an attempt on your family, I don't know when or what…" Her heart snapped into panic and she started to ask more questions, but before she could, Sara was already willing herself to fade away. "Goodbye, Aveline. Before I go, are you married yet?" She narrowed her eyes and quickly turned away, ignoring the previous statement._

_ "Goodbye, Grandmother!" _

"It was freaky," Aveline muttered. She pushed the disk back into her pack and zipped it up. "I don't suppose you'd want to use it?"

Ander shook his head and folded his arms over. "Not entirely. Sure I'd be tempted to talk to Uncle Alrick, but I don't think the dead is something I really want to mess with."

"Yeah, I agree…" She would put it up on a shelf when she got home, but god it was tempting to use. Even now, she had an adrenaline rush just thinking of talking to another ancestor. "Hmm…I wonder if anyone we know has this thing?"

` "Art has one, I saw him talking about it to Mala yesterday. He keeps it in a private place and has only used it once to ask an ancestor of his some questions about his heritage."

"Oh cool!"

"Yeah, but I'm still against those things regardless." It was not hard to see why someone would be against them. Even she still had mixed feelings, and preferred to stick her nose into history books.

"I agree, this is just one invention I'd rather not spend too much time handling…"

* * *

Yes this invention will be used in the future, so it is indeed necessary. I believe it will definitely be useful in, perhaps, Mala's and Martin's storyline. Anyway, tell me your thoughts on it, and so forth.


	8. Royal Vacation

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 8 (Royal Vacation)

"Do you think leaving her in charge was a good idea?" Cece asked while shifting nervously from the plane window to Gunther. They were on their way to America to discuss Frankie's moving to Sviederbach, and in turn they left Aveline in charge of her siblings. Gunther put his arm around her shoulders, laughing heartily. "What? I'm just worried, she's always leaving the castle to go off on her adventures with Estelle, and I'm nervous about whether or not she's going to handle looking after her brothers and sister."

"Cece, she's eighteen years old now, I think she can handle the responsibility of looking after her family. Plus, if she does anything wrong, Rocky and my parents are there to look after them. Ty and Tinka as well." Defenseless, she put her head to his shoulder and shrugged. He had a point, Aveline was old enough to take responsibility. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible would happen, and if something terrible _did_ happen, how would Aveline react to it? "Just try and relax Cece, you're always so worried, let your worries go for now."

"I guess. It's just, I'm a mother, so of course I'm going to worry." There truly wasn't anything to worry about, he was right, but she'd spent so many years _trying_ to relax that she just couldn't do it. She wanted want was best for her children, but they all seemed to forego their priorities and responsibilities. Anything could go wrong. For instance, if the very plane they were on crashed, Aveline would need to take rule in her father's place. Could she protect Sviederbach or take care of it when the impossible was very possible? "Gunther, I'm just always worried something will happen and I want my daughter to be ready to step up and take care of the kingdom if the worst happens…" Gunther kissed her forehead, though it wasn't much of a comfort for her current worries.

"I believe Aveline would handle herself just fine, but right now it isn't necessary to worry. Relax, and let's spend time with old friends, all right?" Her lips curved up at the mention of their friends. They saw Deuce and Dina almost constantly whenever they traveled over, as the couple were still close with Frankie's family. They were married now, and had a son. Currently Deuce wasn't too thrilled with Frankie's plans to move back, but he understood the reasoning.

"I'll bet Aveline's going to be happy to see the Bransford family back." Even Roffe on Parliament was excited to see his old friend was returning. There was an open seat on Parliament that Gunther was considering for Frankie, but he wasn't sure if it would be a good idea. Either way, the Bransford House _was_ being reinstated as a noble family. "Maybe we can stop worrying so much about finding a suitor for her."

"Perhaps. We'll just have to discuss it with her when the time comes. Until then, I'm honestly getting tired of all these ill-found suitors that keep showing up."

"I know. I feel guilty for putting her through that…I would have hated it if my mother did it." Gunther laughed heartily once again, which earned him an intense glare. "What's so funny about it?"

"You know as well as I do, from everything you've told me about your mom, that she would have been doing the same thing if you were in Aveline's situation." She huffed and folded her arms, looking away from his ever-growing smirk. "They say a child is a mini version of their mother, and Aveline is more like you than you know."

"I suppose so. I don't know where she got her manners from, though." She sat upright and let her face fall into a narrow frown. Of course, Gunther was right, Aveline's behavior practically mirrored her own. "Second thought, scratch that…"

When they arrived, they were met by Frankie's cheerful spouse. Karin hurried over and hugged Cece's neck as she often did. Frankie hung back with his trademark proud smirk. Gunther walked over to him, then shared in a high five greeting. The couple looked the same as they had eighteen years ago, only slightly aged and less angst-ridden. Frankie and Karin had the calmest expressions and were completely ready to get back to Sviederbach. "How was the plane ride?" Karin inquired.

"It was good, smooth riding as always." Cece looked over as a young girl started to hurry towards her. She grinned and met the girl with a hug. "Hi Astrid, it feels like it's been forever since I've seen you! My you've grown!" Of course the twelve year old girl stepped back and performed a curtsey for her.

"Thank you Mrs. H."

"Usually Gunther's the one that says that," A boy chortled from behind. Cece turned and smiled at the bright eyed sixteen year old, Noak. He was a splitting image of his father, though Frankie often said he looked more like his grandfather. The logic was lost at that point, since Frankie looked like his dad as well. "Good to see you guys again."

"It is good to be back here visiting," Gunther replied. "A shame we missed Ander's arrival to Sviederbach. We just haven't had the chance to visit him on campus. Hopefully we'll have a chance to see him when we get back. You must understand how hard it is when almost every day we have to deal with dozens of requests, either in letter or person, regarding Aveline's hand in marriage."

"It's exhausting," Cece muttered. She wanted it to _end_, but for some reason, it only seemed to grow. "We'd like for someone to throw us a bone, but it's just not happening." They also wanted to hurry the Bransford's move to the country, but even that was difficult. It was only difficult because they were lacking in patience, he needed to deal with his job transfer. Astrid had to deal with leaving _Shake it Up_, and then there was the process of becoming a part of Parliament again. He could become a noble, but it would take a little bit of time before he'd be appointed to Parliament. "Maybe when everything's finally said and done, we can breathe."

"Well hopefully you can take a moment to breathe now that you're actually on vacation. Glad you managed to get here in time to see Astrid off though. Noak was just about to drive Astrid out to the studio."

"It's my final rehearsal," Astrid marveled. "Does Astor know we're moving to Sviederbach? I can't wait!" Astor knew _now_, but he didn't before. Gunther decided to tell him rather than surprising him. Whenever they visited the Bransford family, or vice versa, Astor and Astrid were always close. Even Noak had a good time hanging out with Estelle. "I can't wait to see Ander and Aveline!"

"Come on sis," Noak was halfway out the door when Astrid peered over at him. "You don't want to be late do you?"

"Of course not." She hugged Gunther and Cece once more, then started off after her brother. "I'll see you guys in a few hours!"

"Bye Astrid." Gunther waved the girl off, then turned to Cece with a smile. "Well dear, I hope you didn't forget _your_ appointment." She raised an eyebrow and hummed her thought. Gunther scheduled her an appointment to get a massage at the spa, something she'd been needing for a very long time. Her heart jumped up and she quickly nodded. He was going to drop her off there, and then head over to Deuce's place, to surprise their old friend. The only thing Cece didn't like about the rental car they had, the windows were clear, rather than tinted black like most of the vehicles the family drove.

"Of course I didn't forget!"

"Good, it's something to take the stress off your shoulders for a bit." He checked his watch and looked over to Frankie. "After we're done settling down for a bit, I'll drop her off, we should be back in about an hour or two."

Frankie put his arm around Karin's shoulders and happily affirmed his friend. "Sounds good to me."

After a while, Cece happily walked through the spa. Her stress level was down, her wall was down, and she was fine with this. When she made it to the massage therapist, she met with the owner, a slender forty year old man with a handlebar moustache. He had dark brown eyes and was busy drying his hands. "Hello Madame, I'd shake your hand, but I'm afraid they're as cold as a fish."

"That's okay. I'm here for the massage, are you the owner?"

"Yes, Maxwell is the name." She nodded and casually moved into the room. There was a long table with vanilla cushioning and a horseshoe head frame. "My fiancé, Heather is the masseuse, and she will be taking care of you."

"Thank you." It was not long before she was prepped and face down on the massage table. A woman with a husky, but oddly sweet voice entered the room rather hastily.

"Hello Mrs. Hessenheffer. It's not every day I get to give a massage to a queen." Cece wasn't disheartened by the woman's knowledge of her status, though she would have preferred _not_ having people know who she was. Sadly, that was unavoidable. "I hope you don't mind the fragrance of the room."

"It's fine." Candles had been lit, and the room smelled of apples and cinnamon. Strangely, they were inducing her into a highly relaxed state, but this was a good thing in her mind. She came here to relax, after all. She slowly closed her eyes and let her body go limp. "Wake me when you're done. You don't know how good it feels to finally take a load off."

"I guarantee when we're done here, you will be completely relaxed and rejuvenated." Cece exhaled softly and flinched once the woman's hands touched her back. She wasn't truly accustomed to strange hands touching her. "Relax dear."

"I am, no worries." She breathed out a content groan, feeling as though she were floating on air. "I bet you're excited. Getting married. He said you're his fiancé, right?"

"That's right. In a few months we're getting married." The woman chimed happily as Cece drifted off to sleep, hearing only slurs as the woman spoke. "In a few months, I'll be Mrs. Heather Lamont."

* * *

Hmm and thus it begins. What are your thoughts here? Let me know what you're thinkin' now ^_^


	9. Strike of Lamont

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 9 (Strike of Lamont)

"Hey, where'd your girlfriend go?" Art asked. Ander looked up from the homework on his desk and back at Art. Aveline had gone to return the invention thing and to check on her family before coming back. "Martin's left with his dad and granddad, Odo's at his night class, so it's just us guys and Mala. We thought Aveline was still here, we were going to play poker, but if it's just us three…"

"Nah she's coming back, she went to drop something off at her place. I was just finishing up some questions on this essay, but I can take a break." He and Art had become very good friends, almost as good of friends as Art and Mala were becoming. "So what are you two up to right now?" He moved from his desk and followed Art out into the living area. Mala was in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water. She appeared a bit frazzled, her cheeks were red and swollen, and her lips were tucked into the tiniest half smile that she could muster. "What happened?"

"She and Martin got into another argument before his dad pulled him out of the apartment. Apparently they had something to do that she decided that she didn't want a part of. What that is, she's afraid or something…" Ander rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. He wouldn't put it past Martin to threaten Mala's life if she said something that he didn't want others knowing about. What was it going to take to get those two separated? Art moved over to the couch and took a seat, bending forward and rubbing his neck. Ander moved beside him and looked over to Mala, whose back was turned to them. She was practically buried in the refrigerator. "She's told me all she's known is Martin and his family, she hasn't known anyone or anything else, so she's afraid to leave him. She lost her mom, never even knew her mother…"

"Poor girl. She'd probably have a better life without Martin, I'd think." Mala looked over her shoulder.

"Hey, do you guys want a soda?" Mala asked. Ander raised his hand, asking for a root beer. Mala rarely ever talked to him or Odo, so it was a pleasant surprise when she _did_ talk to him. Whenever Martin was around, she was silent and meek. Ander had to speculate, if Mala had known her mother, if the mother were still around, would the woman allow this treatment of her daughter?

The girl came over with two sodas, handed them the drinks, and sat down on the other side of Art. "Thank you, Mala." She nodded appreciatively and bowed her head. Ander's heart went out to her and he quickly glanced back towards the door, full of concern. He wished there was something they could do about Martin, but he just didn't see any opportunity to help Mala out. "You know…Aveline found something out about Martin, that he's descended from the guy that assassinated Astor Heinrike…"

"Yeah, Moritz's son," Mala muttered under her breath. Her voice was faint, but still loud enough for him to hear. She lifted her head up, her eyes full of tears. She was holding something back. Whatever it was, she seemed terrified of it. "I've been with the Lamont family since I was a baby, and they've always treated me…like I'm nothing. Because that's what I am, I'm nothing. My own mother didn't even want me."

"I'm sure that's not true," Art replied. He put his hand to Mala's hand, smiling with confidence. "How could she not want you?" Ander started to sip his soda. He didn't think too much about whether or not the girl's mom wanted her. Mala was a nice girl, if her mom abandoned her, then it was on her.

"My mother was Tabitha…Tabitha Nilsine…" His eyes widened and the soda swiftly went down the wrong pipe. He began coughing and Art started smacking his back. "A-Are you okay, Ander?" Her mother was _Tabitha_? If that was the case, this was the girl his mom and dad had been looking around for! He looked over at her, stuttering as he tried to find the words to say.

"Your mom was Tabitha?" He asked. "_That_ Tabitha? As in my mother's sister, Tabitha? The same woman that was executed for King Brustrum's assassination?" Mala tensed and bowed her head.

"Yes…that Tabitha…King Brustrum assaulted her…That's why I'm 'shit' that no one wants. Not even Martin…"

"She said something about you to my mother on the week of her execution…I don't remember exactly, but I know mom and dad wanted to find you." Mala clenched her eyes shut and turned away. Art was stunned by the revelation. He put his hand to her shoulder, causing her to flinch and look up to him with sorrowful eyes.

"Mala, you are _not_ 'shit'." Art spoke with a strong and calm tone, which impressed Ander pretty well. "You're a very beautiful girl, and you can be very strong if you just will yourself to be. Don't let Martin smother you…if your mother was Tabitha, that means you have strength and determination running through your veins." Mala smiled slightly and bowed her head. "Listen to me, I don't care what Martin says to you, or what his family thinks, and you shouldn't either. You are your own person. Just because bad things happened in your life doesn't mean that you can't rise above them. You can."

"I don't know…I just, I feel like everyone's going to hate me by association."

"Why? Association to Martin? I don't hate you at all."

"Yeah…" Ander checked his cell, smiling when he read Aveline's message. She was on her way back, so it would be about twenty minutes before she got there. "I don't want to betray Aveline, I don't want to hurt anyone, but by association, I know…"

"Aveline doesn't dislike you in any way," Ander remarked. "She's trying to get you to open up more, sure, but she doesn't hate you at all." Mala breathed in and started to close her eyes. The latch on the front door clicked, but they ignored it. "So what's got you so afraid?"

"The Lamont's said they would hurt me if I said…but there's this thing Martin and his family have been planning…" Ander raised his eyebrows and started to lean forward, intrigued now by the conversation. What was Martin planning? What was so hush-hush that was worth threatening Mala's life? "The royal family-"

"I'm ba-ack," Martin's voice chimed from around the corner. Mala gasped out and Ander slowly looked over his shoulder. "My dear roommates, I want to talk to you…"

In America, Noak and Astrid parked alongside the curb to the dance studio. Astrid eyed the building with silent tears, she would miss the place with all her heart. "I don't want to say goodbye, brother. I know I have to, I just…really don't _want_ to." She looked over to him, his arm was draped over the steering wheel and his lips curved into a frown.

"I know Astrid, I know…just take a deep breath. I'll walk you in?"

"Thank you…" He shifted the car into park and started to exit. She stepped out of her side and wiped away a tear. "I'm really going to miss this place." She looked to the alleyway beside the building, there was a middle aged couple leaning against the side, smoking on a cigarette. "Ew, smokers…"

"Don't worry about them, Astrid." They didn't appear homeless at all. At least not by appearance. The man had perfectly groomed brown hair, parted on the left and combed over the right. The woman had brown hair with a shine to it, and it was up in a clean bun. Their _clothes_ looked raggedy, as if they were attempting to act homeless. "Let's go…"

She turned around and leaned against the car, glancing with a soft smile at her brother. "Will you stay and watch the rehearsal?"

"Of course, how else are you getting back home?"

"Good point…" He leaned into his car, as if he'd forgotten something. When he did this, Astrid was grabbed from behind. "Brother!" Noak cursed and quickly moved from the car, all too late, as the man grabbed him and slammed him against the car. "What are you doing!" Astrid struggled in her binds, whimpering. "Let us go!"

Frankie stepped out of his bedroom, smirking confidently in full shirtless glory. He and Karin were planning on having some intimate time alone while Gunther and Cece and the kids were away. Karin was going to the restroom, so he took the moment to walk about the house.

When he stepped into the living room, the doorbell went off. "Wasn't expecting any visitors…" He hummed and began walking towards the door. When he glanced out the peephole, he saw an elder man with sandy brown hair and a crooked brown, wooden walking stick. "Who the hell…" He opened the door, curious to who this guy was interrupting his alone time with his beautiful wife. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, my name is Chuck Lamont, I was curious if you'd be interested in some rare antiques." Frankie crossed his arms over and tilted his head. _Antiques?_ "I have many rare items from priceless medieval swords to the original pistols used in the Civil War."

"I don't know sir, but pardon me while I grab a shirt real quick…" He turned around and moved towards the couch where his shirt had been flung on the top. As he bent over, he saw the man's shadow fall onto the couch. "Uh, sir?" He started to turn around, but a sharp pain struck him in the head, and his vision went black.

"My apologies, but you and your wife must come with me…"

Gunther was well on his way to Deuce's place, but was forced to make a pit stop at a gas station. The rental car didn't even have a full tank of gas! He stepped out and dealt a swift kick to front tire, cursing the car. "Damn rental cars never can be trusted worth a damn!" Now he had to pray no one here would recognize him as Sviederbach's king, and he could get his gas in peace.

He paid at the car and hooked the nozzle into the gas tank, muttering about the poor timing. From the corner of his eyes, he saw an old woman popping the hood of her black Cadillac. She was muttering to herself and pacing back and forth. The corner of his lip tugged back and his impatient glare fell upon the hose of the gas tank. He was torn between filling up and leaving, or helping this elderly woman with her car troubles. He didn't want to be an asshole, because it just wasn't who he was. Hell, he based his Term off of helping everyone.

Shrugging, Gunther left the car and moved over to the elder. She did look like she was in dire need of assistance. The woman's grey and wrinkled face turned up to him, her eyes delighting at his appearance. "Oh a strong man to help, would you help me sir?"

"I'll give it a try. My name's Gunther, by the way. What's the problem?"

"My engine just won't start…" He nodded and bent over the engine, placing his hands firmly on the edge of the car. As his eyes scanned the engine, he wasn't sure where the problem was. "My name is Ethel, young man. Maybe you've heard of my husband? He runs an antique shop around here."

"I wouldn't know, ma'am, I don't live around here anymore. Haven't for nearly twenty years."

"Oh, that's a shame. You should meet my husband some day, he is such a nice man. My whole family, actually…" He let out a grunt, still focused on the engine. He rubbed his chin and shook his head, unable to figure out what the problem was. He started to step back, but before he knew it, he was falling to the ground. His vision blacked out and his body went numb. Had he just been attacked? What was going on? Was there a plot on his life? Was Cece okay? Were his children okay? These were the last thoughts he had before losing total consciousness.

Elsewhere, Rocky was driving Wilbert and Karla from the museum. Wilbert had been going nuts wanting to do some reading. Karla wanted to get out of the house as well, and Rocky wasn't too keen on the idea of leaving the castle. Rolf told her it would be fine, that he would look after the royal family for her. Still, she had a nagging feeling in her gut that told her to hurry her children up so they could leave.

"I had fun," Wilbert enthused, "Thank you, Mom." Her eyes drifted to the rearview mirror and her lips curled up into a smile. It was astonishing how much like his Uncle Wilbert was. Truthfully, it would be August to take over the museum one day. No matter how much August wanted to be an entertainer, he was slowly turning into a historian like his father while Wilbert might slowly revert to singing.

"Make sure you two are buckled in safely." Karla was on the left, behind her, and completely buckled up. In the event of an accident, there would be no chance of harm towards the young child. Wilbert often undid his belt, which wasn't a good idea, he usually complained about the belt chafing him.

"We are, Momma," Karla replied. Her daughter she was immensely proud of, Karla was a splitting image of her. She was tough to boot, but also enjoyed dancing every now and then. Rocky was teaching her the fine art of combining the two, and she was learning fast. "Thanks again for everything."

"No problem sweetie." Rocky tapped her thumbs on the wheel and peered up at the streetlight. To her right was a car in the distance, the lights were off, and a woman was seated in the drive. It was the only other car anywhere near the intersection, and for some reason, it frightened her. Her eyes flicked back to the light, her impatience was only growing. "Come on…"

"Ah!" Wilbert dropped his book on the ground. "My book!"

"Stay seated, Will." The light turned green, so Rocky began to make her way across. Unfortunately, the car she spotted began moving, increasing in speed. The headlights flipped on, blinding her. In an instant, Karla was screaming, and pain snapped through her body. Her head slammed against the wheel as the car started to spin out of the intersection.

When she opened her eyes, she could hear Karla whimpering. Rocky moaned as she attempted to move her body. Blood was trickling down her forehead, her chest was on fire, and her arms felt like they were about to fall off. "W-What happened…" With another weak groan, she turned her head to the broken window beside her. A man matching the description Aveline had given of Martin's father, Steven, was peering in at her. "Who…"

"Are you okay miss? I saw the wreckage. Let me help you."

"M-My children…save them first…"

"Indeed!"

At Hasli's butcher shop, Kashlack and Squitza happily exited. After all these years, the shop was still going strong. It was amazing! "Squitza dear, isn't it nice of our old friend to offer to cater our anniversary dinner the next time it comes around?"

"Yes." Their anniversary wasn't for a few months, and they never did anything big for it. A simple dinner was all they ever wanted to do to celebrate. "Did you see that other customer in the store, though?"

"Who?"

"The old man that Hasli chided for loitering about." Kashlack rubbed his chin and recalled the elder she was talking about. He was a man with white hair and a black cane, just standing against a wall, watching them. It was unsettling, especially since the man's elder wife had just walked out of the store. "There was just something odd about him, was he listening to our talk with Hasli?"

"Maybe dear, I wouldn't put too much worry about it." The two entered their car, a red Mustang GT with black tinted windows. In his ever-aging state, he often forgot to lock the door. "Sweetheart, did I remember to lock the door?" Squitza moved around to the other side and opened the door with ease. He winced and smacked his forehead.

"No honey, you didn't."

"Sorry about that. Ah well, just making things easier on my queen." He smiled at her and smoothed his curly white hair back. It was much shorter than it used to be, and Cece _still_ commented on how it looked like 'noodles'. Granted she changed from ramen to angel hair pasta.

Once in the car and driving down the road, Kashlack noticed something strange in the rearview mirror. He was unable to see the texture of the back seats, as though something was back there, but they never put anything in the back. As soon as he noticed it, the same elder from earlier sat upright, smirking at the two. His heart shot from his chest and he slammed the brakes, turning back in time to see the elder with a pistol.

"Okay you two, listen real closely here. You're disposable, fodder, so if you don't do what I tell you, I _will_ shoot you. Starting with the old woman." Kashlack was furious, but defenseless. Squitza fainted on the spot. The elder's smirk grew and he instantly turned his pistol to him. "Okay Kash, start driving, and make no attempts to call out or I will kill you. By the way, it's good to meet you. I'm Henry Lamont…"

Also at the Museum was Ty. Tinka and August had arrived to spend some time with Rocky, but unfortunately the woman and her kids already left. Ty was in the back, working on some paperwork, while Tinka and August were roaming about the place.

He thought he'd heard the sounds of a struggle, but put it off as nothing. His concern was only piqued when he saw a woman rushing in with a frenzied state. She had long black hair, bruised arms, and was sweating bullets. "Please help, there's been an accident! A car…"

"What? Are you all right?" He set his paperwork down. His heart began to race as he rounded the corner of the desk.

"I'm fine, but a woman…a woman and two children…" His eyes started to widen and he quickly put his hands on the lady's shoulders.

"Ma'am, please try to relax. I'll send for help, what is your name?" She turned and started rushing down the hall, he followed close behind, praying that the car wreck wasn't too serious. She looked like she just came from it, so it couldn't be _too_ bad.

When he made it outside of his back office, he froze, seeing both Tinka and August unconscious on the ground. He immediately rushed to them and looked back, but the woman was gone. Cursing, he turned his head to Tinka, there was blood on the back of her head! He heard someone step behind him and looked over his shoulder, panting heavily at the woman, who was now holding a bat in her hand. "Auda. Auda Lamont, my husband is Steven, and he just captured your sister."

"What? Shit…" Before he could react, she swung the bat down onto his back. Pain shot through him like electricity and he collapsed hard onto the floor beside his wife.

Little Michael was playing with Kuno in the front room of the castle, Astor had been there, but wanted to go check out the disk thing that Aveline had brought back. He told Astor not to go into Aveline's room, but Astor never listened. Mia was out in the garden, but Michael wouldn't go back there since Kuno wasn't allowed to wander around in the gardens. He wasn't old enough to find his way out if he got lost.

Maybe if Kuno stayed close, though Astor specifically stated for him _not _to take Kuno out to the gardens. "Kuno, you want to go play with Mia?"

"Yeah!" Kuno exclaimed for joy, laughing happily. "I want to play with sis!"

"Okay! Just stay close to me, okay Kuno?"

"Okay!"

"Good brother." Kuno took his hand and Michael slowly led him to the gardens out back. When they arrived outside, he saw Rocky's husband, Rolf, lying down on the ground. "Uncle Rolf? Uncle Rolf wake up." There was a large red puddle beneath him, and Kuno was heading towards it.

Michael's heart stopped when he realized what it was, and terror soon set in. "No Kuno! Come back!" This couldn't be happening, Rolf _couldn't_ be injured. Who would have done it? He hurried over and caught Kuno before he stepped in the blood. "Something's wrong, Kuno, we need to find Mia!"

Rather, they ought to find Astor. He would know what to do! "Why Uncle Rolf sleeping in soda?" Michael's stomach churned and he quickly turned away with his brother. He started to explain that it wasn't soda, but before he could say anything at all, he heard his sister screaming out in terror. "Mia! Mia's hurt!"

"No! Mia!" He started in a breakneck dash towards the garden, but halted when Kuno screamed out. He spun around and paled, a elder woman had picked Kuno up. Where did she come from? "Kuno! Put him down! Put down my little brother!" Michael ran up and started slamming his fist into the woman's leg, all to no avail.

"Brother!" Mia cried out. He froze and glanced over his shoulder, Mia was in the arms of a second, younger woman. Neither woman he recognized.

"This takes care of the brats, Regina," spoke Kuno's abductor.

"All right mom, Zach went inside to handle the last one…we'll get these two tied up and to the car."

"Didn't he say not to wait up?"

"Yeah, we need to get moving right away. There's a high chance of getting caught while here, so there's no sense in waiting around…"

Astor sucked on his index finger and stared at the Soul-disk on Aveline's desk. She would be pissed that he messed around with it, but that was only if she found out. She'd called upon Sara Klemens a while back, and now it was his turn.

He was stunned that the disk was actually working, and a strong elderly man in very old time royal armor was materializing before him. The man was a tall six feet and two inches, he had stern blue eyes, and a very long white beard. He had broad shoulders, a straight back, and muscular arms. His head was bare, and his face was very narrow. In his leather gloved hand he gripped a long double edged sword, perhaps a symbol of his weapon of choice.

Astor was _amazed_. "K-King Lothar?" The man narrowed his eyes and huffed, sheathing his blade on his right hip. Lothar Klemens, Sviederbach's founder. "I-I didn't think that would _work!_" Lothar looked around the room and raised an eyebrow.

"You broke into your sister's room and used that invention…You remind me a little of myself when I was young. Amusing." Lothar tipped the corner of his lips up and he slowly turned his head to the closed door. "Why did you bring me back?"

"I was curious I guess, I wanted to see what you were like in person. I didn't know you were so…"

Lothar replied in a flat tone and quickly looked back at him. "If you say _old_, I'm going back." Astor laughed nervously and waved his hands in the air. He was well aware how old Lothar was, having been the only term ruler to live into his 90s.

"No sir, not at all. I'm just surprised you're still in good shape."

"Bear in mind I'm a ghost. Or well, living dead, for an hour thanks to that contraption…Sure I was in good shape in life, but not this good of shape, that happens when you go into the afterlife, young man." Lothar looked back to the door and started grumbling. "Something isn't right…Where is your sister?"

"Aveline? She's gone back to her boyfriend." Astor rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. What was going on outside that had Lothar upset? "What's going on?"

"There are intruders in my castle. Your family's in trouble…Damn that Moritz, his descendents are vying for the throne!"

"What?" Lothar cleared his throat and started to back up to the wall beside the door, as if he were waiting. Astor figured he might know a few things just from observation in the afterlife, but how much did he know? "What do you mean my family's in danger?" His heart began to race as he remembered he left his younger siblings outside! "Oh shit…"

"You would curse in front of your ancestor?"

"Sorry…" Astor threw the door open in a panic and rushed out. Lothar followed close behind, telling him to not move so fast, apparently coming back in an actual body form was a bit too much of a change for this once great leader. "You said my family's in trouble…"

"Yes, and I suggest you call your sister back. Her boyfriend is in just as much danger." Astor looked back with an anxious gaze, he needed to find his sister then. He didn't want her running into trouble. "Ander Bransford is her boyfriend, his roommate is Martin Lamont. Martin's brother is in this castle…"

"Oh no! Michael and Mia! Kuno!" He started looking around, stopping only when he felt the man's heavy hand upon his shoulder.

"I'm sorry to say, it's too late. Where is your father's sword? You will need it."

"I think it's in his chambers, but that's on the other side of the castle…"

"No time, get it afterwards. By the way, I am proud of your father, he might like to know that." Astor quickly nodded and watched as Lothar began walking away. Where was the man going? He wanted to follow, but at the same time, he wasn't sure if he should.

"Grandpa, I'm only twelve…"

"So? Boys your age and younger should know how to fight."

"I do, I mean, I just…I don't know what to do right now." Lothar turned around and narrowed his eyes.

"Stay _put_." Astor started to sweat as Lothar slowly drew his blade. What was the man doing? Lothar gripped the handle with two hands and within seconds was twisting and throwing the blade. "Duck!" Astor's eyes widened as the sword flew towards him. He let out a scream and ducked down, narrowly missing the sword, and listening as it sliced into something.

When he turned back around, he saw a man with spiky blonde hair standing behind him, his face twisted in shock and fear, and the sword sticking directly into his chest. Blood was gushing out of him like a waterfall. "Oh my…" He took a slow step back as Lothar walked over and grabbed the handle of his sword, pulling it out just as the man fell to his knees. "You…killed someone…but _how_? I mean, you're dead."

"Yes, but in an earthly form. We can touch things and react as if we were living beings." Lothar sheathed his blade and glared down at the body. "Zachary Lamont. I'll pray for his soul. Astor, you need to call your sister. Do it now, please."

"Yes Grandpa." He wasn't about to hesitate for a single moment. He listened when told what to do by his ancestor, who just killed one of the bad guys. What must have gone through that man's head when he realized that a dead guy was walking around, or even throwing a sword at him? Either way, there _were_ more important things at stake, he absolutely could not let anything happen to Aveline. Nor would she let anything happen to him. The trick was, figuring out what was going on with everyone _else_. "Thanks for having my back also, Grandpa…"

* * *

So a lot has happened here. Who saw it coming? What surprised you here? Looks like Astor's safe, those soul-disks really are freakish.


	10. All That's Left

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 10 (All That's Left)

"Damn this light," Estelle complained. They'd been stuck at the same light for about five minutes now. The problem was there had been quite a bit of traffic backed up at the light, so it turned green about twice already, and now they were the first in the line to pass once it turned green again. "Did you let Ander know we were going to be late because of a _stoplight_?" Aveline chuckled and rubbed her cousin's shoulder.

"Relax Estelle, we're going to get there." She wasn't in a _rush_, Ander would be happy to see her back whenever she got back. There was a sensation that something was amiss, however, and something was telling her to check on her brother. "I don't know why, but I'm worried about Astor for some reason…" Estelle hummed as she started to look down to her cell phone. Cell phones hadn't changed much in the last eighteen years, over time people got irritated with how big and complex those iphones were, so people began making simple cell phones as they used to be. People ate those up. "When this light turns green, could you pull over in that parking lot?" She pointed to a store parking lot on the right. Estelle raised an eyebrow and slowly turned her skeptical gaze over to her.

"Don't you want to get over to Ander?"

"Yes, but I just have this feeling…please pull over." Nobody in Sviederbach or elsewhere knew she rode around in Estelle's car, so it would be hard for assassins to get close to her, if not impossible. This was the reason she opted to ride with her cousin. Yet, a random, chilling thought had appeared in her mind that assassins were onto her family. "I have to check on Astor. Ander will understand."

"All right, if you say so." As the light changed, Estelle moved over into the turn lane and put her flasher on. Aveline thanked her and grabbed her phone. When she opened it up, she saw her brother was already calling her. She had her phone on silent the whole time and wasn't aware of it! She looked up as Estelle started to turn in the parking lot. She flipped her hair back and put the phone up to her ear.

"Astor, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"Aveline, you need to come back home!" Astor called out. The sense of urgency in his voice struck a chord in her. "You have to come home right now, you can't go to Ander's apartment."

"Wait how did you know-"

"That isn't important," replied an elder voice. She froze, as if to ask who was with him. Was Astor in any danger? She swallowed hard and looked up to Estelle. Her cousin was watching carefully, concerned and confused. "I'm impressed by these strange devices, but again, not important. This is your ancestor. Your brother is safe, but if you go to that apartment, you're putting your life at risk. Martin Lamont and his family have gone through with their plans."

"What!" She was knee deep in danger and she didn't even know it? "I knew something was off about him…Astor, stay right there, don't move, I'll be home in ten minutes." She pulled the phone from her ear and signaled Estelle to drive home. "I need to call Ander and tell him to get out of that apartment." She wanted to go there herself and get him, but right now her brother was more important. Ander understood her family always came first, and she was the eldest sister, she _needed_ to look after her siblings. As Estelle sped down the road, Aveline feverishly scraped her forehead. "God I hope I'm not too late." Did that man say he was their _ancestor_? Had Astor been tampering with the Soul-Disk thing? She groaned with annoyance, then shrugged it off. If Astor was safe, that must mean the ancestor protected him, in which case, she was _glad_ he messed around with the invention.

Martin Lamont held his hands behind his back as both Ander and Art stood in front of the couch, blocking him from Mala. He was irritated that she wasn't coming to stand beside him, had they tainted her already? "We need to have a house meeting, guys. There are important things at stake here, and some important shit is going down…" Where the hell was Ander's girlfriend, the _Princess_? Rage was boiling inside as she was imperative to his plans. "A little game is going to be played here, you see, and Ander…you're the key." He chuckled as Ander's glare fell upon him.

"What if I don't want to play any games?" As if he had a _choice_ in the matter. Had Aveline not showed up at the apartment, then Martin would never have figured out that Ander was involved with her. In that case, he would simply have left Ander alone, unless of course, he started messing around with Mala. Now Art wasn't important, he was simply going to leave him here, but Mala needed to stay with him. Of course, she _understood_ that. "Art and I are taking a vote, we're going to tell the campus to kick you out of the apartment." He raised an eyebrow, scoffing at the absurd suggestion. What would it prove? "You can't go in the girl's dorm."

"Oh, you're protecting _Mala?_ She doesn't need your protection." His fists tightened. Enclosed, he was holding onto two tiny electricity generators. Much like a taser, but a bit stronger, they would knock out both of these men. "My family will be heading this way with the hostages…" Ander's eyes widened and he took a dangerous step forward, growling under his breath.

"You better not touch Aveline."

"I wouldn't _dream_ of it. We need her out of captivity for this little game." Ander raised an eyebrow as he began to move towards him. A smirk grew upon his face and he slowly began to bring his hand from behind him. "Sorry Ander, this time the Princess is going to have to rescue the Prince. With a deadline." Before Ander could react, Martin slammed him with the circular electric device. Ander screamed out as the voltage shot through his body, knocking him back onto the couch, unconscious. Mala's eyes widened and Art started towards him with an angry yell.

"Come on asshole!" Martin started to turn, but Art grabbed his neck, then slammed his fist into his abdomen. Pain shot through his body as the man began lifting him up into the air. He let out a long curse as he started sailing through the room, slamming hard against the wall. Unaware, his apartment key fell from his belt and slid beneath the couch. Art glared at him and clenched his fists. "You like pushing people around? How does it feel to be on the other end?"

Annoyed, Martin slowly rose to his feet and rubbed his head. "What?" His eyes drifted from Art, to a very anxious Mala beside him. His eyebrows lifted up and he began to laugh. "I see what this is about. This is about her, isn't it? Well I'm sorry Art, but after today, you won't be seeing her again. Well you might, but only if I let her come back here."

"She's a human being, Martin, not some slave for you to push around!"

"Are you stupid?" He chuckled again and began walking towards Art. "I can do whatever the hell I want, I'm her boyfriend."

"That doesn't give you the right to smack her around. Now I don't know what it is you're planning with Ander, or with the royal family. So whatever it is, it stops here. You go _no further_." Martin slicked back his hair and exhaled deeply.

"It's too late for that. Everyone's down. Now, Mala, get your meek little ass over here." Mala closed her eyes and Art roared out, slamming a fist into his chest. Martin gasped out as he crashed towards the ground, winded from the blow.

"I said _enough_ is _enough_." He felt Art's mighty hands grab the back of his shirt and pull him up. The next thing he knew, he was being slammed against the kitchen island. He put his hands on the counter and kicked back, slamming the heel of his foot hard into Art's tight abdomen. Art staggered back, then ducked an overhead swipe of Martin's fist. "Not so easy." Martin's eyes widened as Art slammed a fist into his lower jaw. He leaned back, groaning in pain. Art then proceeded to slam another blow into his chest, finally kicking him down onto the ground.

"Jesus…" He pushed up on his arms and moved his hand to his jaw, rubbing it carefully. So that was what it felt like. He narrowed his eyes and started to rise up. "You're beginning to piss me off, Artie." Art narrowed his eyes and cracked his neck from side to side.

"I come from a long line of Irish warriors, do you _really _want to piss me off?" Yes, Martin already knew this. Art was descended from the great and mighty William Wallace, who helped Ireland gain independence several centuries ago. Centuries of warrior blood ran through Art's veins, so clearly, he had to watch himself. "I'm sorry, you've already done that." Martin's eyes widened as Art dealt another heavy kick into his chest. His back slammed hard against the wall, and blood shot from his mouth.

"Damn, and to think all I wanted to do was talk." The door opened and Odo stepped in. Martin smirked as Art looked back, shouting for Odo to run. It was enough of a distraction. Martin quickly slapped him with the electric device, Art screamed out in pain, then collapsed onto the floor. Limping forward, breathing heavily, Martin shot a glare at Odo. "Leave now, or die. It's your choice." It wouldn't matter, Odo would likely run into his family, whichever relative of his was making his way to him. They had to put Ander in a car somewhere. "Got it?" Odo yelped and ran from the apartment. Mala stared down at Art, muttering to herself. "Damn Mala, that was a close one. If Odo didn't show up, I don't know what I would have done."

"Art…Ander…"

"Come on Mala, help me carry Ander out. We need to tie him up, and don't you dare start to argue with me…I'm stressed out enough today." Still, where the hell was Aveline? Was he going to have to go hunt her down? Not only that, but his brother hadn't texted him back yet. Everyone else sent him a message, stating clearly that they nabbed their targets, but Zachary hadn't. _"How hard is it to nab a fucking twelve year old boy?"_ If they didn't get Astor, then maybe they could have some fun with it. Perhaps Aveline could use a partner in this game.

Aveline rushed into the castle to find Astor standing in the main living room. "Astor!" Her brother looked up as she threw her arms around him. She was deathly terrified for him, but grateful to see him safe and sound. "I'm so glad you're okay, where are the others?"

"Gone…all of them…" She froze, her mouth dropped in shock. She looked down at the body on the floor and raised an eyebrow, was this one of the Lamont's? They couldn't have possibly done it, they couldn't have taken Mia and Michael. If they took her younger three siblings, she was going to be furious. Where was Rocky? Where the _hell_ had Rocky gone? She wiped a tear from Astor's face and looked up at the elder man behind him. Was this the ancestor? "Aveline, meet Lothar…He took out the guy on the ground…"

"You brought back…_King Lothar_?" Any other day she would be overcome with admiration and pride, but right now, she was too clouded by panic and grief. "Thank you for looking after my brother. Can you at least tell me what's going on? Martin's family is acting on _what_ plan exactly?" Lothar folded his arms over and closed his eyes.

"From what I can understand, they're abducting the members of the Royal family. They believe like Moritz's son, that their ancestor had the right to the throne and Sara did not. They're giving you a fighting chance, but they won't make it easy…" All her relatives? "They want the throne, and they have documents to prove to Parliament that they _are_ descended from the royal family…"

"You're kidding…they can't do _anything_ if Astor and I are still alive…"

"I know, but from what I can tell in the afterlife…they don't plan on killing you right away. I can give you advice and tips, but I only have so much time left before I get called back. Just try not to use that contraption again…" Aveline nodded and Astor chuckled nervously.

"Do you know if they got Mom and Dad? Please tell me they didn't…" Lothar frowned and slowly shook his head. Her heart shattered and her hand flew to her mouth. "Rocky? Uncle Ty? Grandma and Grandpa?"

"They have everyone but you and your brother. Even Ander…" She gasped and started to stumble backwards. Lothar put his hand to her arm, helping her to steady.

"No…No…" They couldn't have gotten him! That wasn't possible! She leaned forward, placing her hands onto the arm of a couch. Her stomach was churning out so much bile that she thought she would explode into a mass of fire. "Why would they go for him? He's not even a heir!"

"No, but he is a potential spouse to _your_ ascension to the throne." She raised an eyebrow and stood straight. She stepped behind Astor and in a protective stance, put her hands to his shoulder. If he was all that was left of the people she wanted to protect, then she would do it.

"Ander isn't a noble."

"You both need to be strong. They do have the Bransford family." Why would they take the family? What was the point? "Your mother and father planned to reinstate the Bransford as nobles, thus making Ander Bransford a noble." Her eyes widened and the color began to leave her face. Where was he going with this? All these years of having a secret relationship, did her mother and father plan on giving _Ander_ a chance for her hand? No, that was impossible. Her father and Ander's father had too much pride to want their children together. They'd never allow such a thing! "In the coming days, you need to be ever vigilant, thoughtful, and let nothing stand in your way. Use the skills your parents have taught you, use your wit, and save your family. It'll be up to you to save Sviederbach…"

"Once again, my family comes to the rescue, huh?" Lothar chuckled and pat her shoulder. His lip curled into a smirk and he slowly nodded his head.

"Yes, and you have as much pride as your father, but I can see you will be able to handle the responsibility…I have the utmost faith in you." Her heart swelled with excitement and pride, she was amazed that _Lothar_ believed in _her!_ What term ruler could actually say _that_? "You are aware of the situation, if your father dies, you will have to take the throne."

"Great…" It wasn't that she didn't _want_ to, but she definitely didn't feel ready. Of course, Term Ruler Leon Heinrike wasn't ready when he stepped up to the throne after a disease killed his family in the early 1800s. Her own father wasn't exactly ready to take the throne, but he accepted Sviederbach's call. "If it comes to that, god I pray it won't, but if it does…I'll take that responsibility."

"Glad to hear it…" Lothar looked down as his body began to fade. Aveline frowned as Astor looked up to her. She wanted to ask so much more, but now there truly was no time. Lothar smiled at the two and lifted his shoulders. "Remember, I trust you to take care of this country. You _are_ ready, whether you know it or not…I'll be watching over you, as will all of your ancestors."

"Thank you, that means a lot. Goodbye grandpa…" A tear left her eye once he vanished completely. She looked down to Astor and knelt, hugging him close. "We need to stay together, Astor…no matter what."

"I know. I love you, Sis."

"You too, little twerp." She chuckled briskly and rubbed his head. He winced and quickly rubbed her head back.

They didn't hear the door open, nor did they hear anyone behind them. It wasn't until Astor's face twisted in horror that Aveline even realized someone was there. "Found you," Martin's voice beckoned in her ears. She froze and turned her eyes back, contemplating her next move. Before she could attack him, she felt a surge of electricity shoot through her. Screaming out, she collapsed onto the ground, her vision blacking out as she lost consciousness.

* * *

Astor and Aveline are the only ones not captured like the rest, a good fight from Art. Anything stun you here? What are your thoughts, do tell ^_^


	11. Scavenger Hunt

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 11 (Scavenger Hunt)

Aveline groaned and slowly opened her eyes, wincing as the sunlight stabbed her. It was the next day already, had she been out that long? The last thing she remembered was hugging Astor, then someone showed up. Gasping, she called for her brother. When she tried to move her arms, she could feel them wrapped around the back of a chair with metal handcuffs rubbing her wrist as she struggled. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she could see Astor sitting beside her, his head resting on her shoulder and his eyes shut. Unconscious, no doubt.

She turned her eyes and saw they were seated on a balcony, overlooking all of Sviederbach. In front of her, Martin and Mala were standing with their backs turned to her. She looked over her shoulder and spotted Roffe, and the rest of Parliament, with their heads bowed. Suddenly, it was hitting her, the gravity of her situation. _"My family, they have my family…" _She clenched her teeth, her throat rumbled and her fiery glare fell upon Martin's back, burning him. "Martin Lamont! What the hell have you done to my family? Where is my father!" Martin flinched and spun around, smirking dangerously at her. "If you've done anything to my mom and dad, I swear to god-"

"So glad to see you awake, Princess." Martin stepped forward and pointed his finger at her. Mala looked over with sad, guilty eyes. Aveline wasn't sure what to think in regards to her, it didn't seem like the girl wanted to be here, so why was she involved? "Check your neck, Aveline." Scared and angry, she lifted her hand and felt a strange metal collar around her throat. She gasped out and started tugging at it, cursing it. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Try to take it off, and all I have to do is press a button, you're done."

"You fucking asshole!" She growled and quickly looked to Astor, he had the same collar around his neck. "Take it off him, he doesn't need to be involved in this! Remove it! Bring back my father! I swear when I get out of this seat…"

"Such _language_ for a Princess." Martin pulled a remote from his pocket, turning on a nearby projector that shot a hologram up in the air. It revealed several camera screens focused on every member of her family. "There they are…"

Her heart stopped when she saw Gunther and Ander together, struggling against their own bonds. Everyone else was still unconscious. "Where…where the hell are they, Martin?"

"I'm getting to that."

"Where are they, damn it!" Gunther and Ander were together, Frankie and Karin were together, Cece was alone and confused. Noak and Astrid were together. Ty, Tinka and August were all together, Rocky was with her children, Kuno and Michael were together, but Mia was alone. She felt an emptiness inside as her eyes widened. "Oh god," she whispered, "You fucking separated the twins! You idiot! Never separate the twins!" Yelling was getting her nowhere. Whatever Martin wanted, she didn't care, she just wanted her family. "Fine Martin, what do you want? I swear though, if you hurt my family, and if you dare do anything to Astor…you're _going_ to regret ever being born."

"Now now Aveline, is that any way to talk to the potential future King of Sviederbach?" Her face fell and her voice grew flat. It was hard to believe the words that just came from his mouth, but yet, she felt she should have expected it.

"What?" She turned her eyes to Roffe and he looked away shamefully. The papers in his hand told her there was nothing she could do to change the situation. It didn't take long for her to figure out that Martin had just nabbed every heir to the throne, as well as anyone else that could potentially try to move in, such as the Bransford family. _"Shit, he's done his research…"_ If she tied anything, he could kill her with that remote, or even her relatives. In which case, the next direct link to the family that was present were the Lamont's.

"While yes, my father and grandfather still live, that _does_ technically mean one of them will take the throne." She didn't care, she still wanted to know what the collar was for and how to save her family before he hurt them. Ander started to stir, slowly opening his eyes and groaning loudly. She was glad to see he was okay, but upset that she let him get in this situation. Martin folded his arms over and narrowed his eyes. "However, we're giving you Hessenheffers a fighting chance."

"You better pray I don't get my hands on you," she snarled. He rolled his eyes and spread his arms out, scornfully smirking at her. Mala looked to Martin and trailed her eyes down towards the remote. She had a hungry look in her eyes. But was she strong enough to make any sort of movement for that remote?

"You're on live, Aveline. Those collars not only will explode if I press this button, but they also have a camera attached to them. Currently that camera, and the cameras set up wherever your relatives are, are all live on every television set in Sviederbach…so all of them will see the fall of the Hessenheffer clan, and the rise of the Lamont's! As it should have been centuries ago, my family will finally take the throne."

"You're insane!" She thought she heard a little bit of Sara in her tone, but thought better of it. If it was Martin's goal to torture her, to torture her family, he had another thing coming. It would be better if he just killed her directly, because there was no way she would let herself be tortured by this man. "What are your intentions, Martin?"

"You and your little brother get to play a game of Scavenger hunt." He put his hand to his chest and closed his eyes. "Now my family and I, we are honest people, and I _am_ a man of my word. So when I say this, I mean every word of it. When you find your relative, you obviously will have to fight for them. When you've saved said relative, I will personally allow them to return to where they were taken from. They don't get to remove the collar though until you manage to rescue your father and beloved boyfriend, Noble Bransford…"

"And if I fail?"

"If you fail, I press a little button on my remote that kills _every one of them_." Her hear dropped and Astor yelped. "And yes, that goes for the ones you've saved already."

"That's not fair!"

"Oh no my dear, it is completely fair. You see, your main goal in a scavenger hunt is to locate _key_ items. All the other items are inconsequential unless those key items are found. Well, Gunther and Ander are the key, and luckily for you, we've put them together. You have to find them and rescue them, if you don't succeed, everyone goes in one giant blast, and my father takes the throne." She growled and narrowed her glare onto him, did they have no other choice? No, she had to save her family. The throne didn't even matter as much as her family did.

"Martin. When I save my family…" She inhaled and breathed out slowly, her rage was on a steady increase. She was ready to tear him limb from limb. "I will _personally_…see to it…that you and your family…_burn_ _in hell!_" She gave him a cold smirk and tilted her head to the right. "You're forgetting something, Martin…"

"What's that?"

"Sviederbach Law. Two things, since my dad is unable to be active and I'm the direct heir, that puts me in charge until I can get him…" Martin nodded, accepting that was indeed law. She had the say of what happens until Gunther is returned to the throne. "Second, by law, you'd only get the throne in the last resort, should all of my family pass, yes…_however_, right now, you and your entire family are guilty of the abduction and conspiracy of assassinating an entire Royal Family. By Sviederbach law, that means you can be executed at any time. If I succeed, and I _will_ succeed. You're _going_ to be arrested and you _will_ be executed." He huffed and tapped his chin, glaring intensely at her.

"Fair enough, I do understand Sviederbach Law. I know that _if_ you succeed, that's what will happen. If you fail, I will still take the throne, as Sviederbach has no choice."

"I'll see to it I won't fail." Martin lowered his hand and knelt before her, curling his finger beneath her chin. She snarled and resisted the temptation to rip his finger off with her teeth.

"Don't forget the spin of the game." There was more? What else could there possibly be? Save her relatives, that was key, finding her father was the most crucial step.

"This isn't a fucking game. Also, don't touch me, bastard."

"Oh I believe you." He moved back up and turned around, walking towards the railing of the balcony. He lifted his arms and called out to the country. Aveline glared at him and started to struggle. "Your Princess has a deadline." She froze and snapped her gaze to her as her brother groaned.

"What?"

Martin looked over his shoulder, sneering with pride. "Every scavenger hunt has a deadline, dear Aveline. Just like that, you will have a time limit to finding each relative and saving them before they perish. The time will end when you've found one, but will begin on the next, and you will be given a clue on where in the world they are…it's up to you to find them before they die."

"You asswipe…I should have known you'd try something like that…" Now she had a deadline, at least it wasn't a full deadline, but dare she to ask anything more. "Is there anything _else_ you'd like to bring up?"

"Yes, if you fail to rescue over half of your relatives, it constitutes as a complete failure. I'll kill the rest, including you and your brother." Her eyes widened and Astor let out an angry shout. "Now, I'll release you and let you on your way, you're allowed to take up whatever weapons, but if you try to strike me before even starting…I'll kill everyone now."

"Shit…" She held her glare as Roffe timidly undid both her and Astor's binds. The two of them rose to their feet and Astor clung tightly to her. "Did you seriously scatter my family all over the world?"

"Yes, and here's your first clue. You have two days to find them, I'm being lenient here." She growled as Martin folded his arms across his chest. "Terrified of the water, I almost died here, but my brother and sister pulled me out. Now again stuck here, but my brother can't help…"

"What kind of-"

"It's Kuno!" Astor exclaimed. "Kuno and Michael, they're at the lake somewhere!" Martin chuckled darkly and Aveline felt an immediate fire at her heels. What kind of bastard would trap Kuno at the lake? She looked back to Martin, then killed the last thought.

"Good luck _Princess_, you'll receive your next clue when you arrive there. Go collect whatever you need." Without a single word, she and Astor took off, but the first thing they would grab were her bow, and their father's sword. She _was_ going to save her family, no matter what it took.

* * *

Well what are your thoughts? Tell me everything ^_^.


	12. The Hunt Begins

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 12 (The Hunt Begins)

"What are we going to do?" Astor asked while tugging on his collar. Aveline caught him and smacked his hand away, scolding him. She didn't want to him ripping that thing off and having Martin blow it up. If anything, she could at the very least, protect _him_. She wanted to figure out a way to disable the collar without Martin realizing it, but she wouldn't be able to do that, and not with a camera attached to the device. "Two days shouldn't be too hard to find Kuno and Michael, but the others…"

"We'll get our family back if it's the last thing we do, Astor." She rushed into her room and opened up the closet. All of her clothes were fitted with special material similar to the metallic material that was in Rocky's guard wear, so it would be hard to cut through her clothes without excess force. "I can already tell you I've figured Martin out, he won't give us two days on everyone…I doubt it…and I'm sure he won't make it easy." Not when he was desperate for the throne, being confident that he wouldn't fail where his ancestors did. "We need to stick together, got that?"

"Yeah…" She grabbed her scabbard and bow from the corner of the closet and wrapped them around her shoulder, resting the items neatly on her back. She stuffed the holder with arrows every night, as ordered to do by her mother, so she knew she had at least one hundred arrows in there. With one hundred arrows, and not that many Lamont's wandering about, she should have an ample supply. She scoffed and quickly began to put her hair up into a ponytail.

"You screwed with the wrong Princess, Marty-boy. If you think I'm going to be like the stereotypical princess, then you're going to be shocked when you find my arrow going up your ass…" Astor cringed as she grabbed his wrist and started pulling him towards their parents' room. Inside was their father's sword, positioned safely in a case on the wall across from their bed. "All right Astor, looks like you're going to be using Dad's sword, think you can carry it?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can." She grabbed the sword and sheath from the case and tossed it over to Astor. He caught it with both hands and looked up to her with a questioning gaze.

"Good. Strap it around your waist and let's go. There's one more thing I want to collect…" There was an item that her father had in his private study, it was another recent invention that only the world's royal families had. Simply because it was easier for them. It was a top-secret invention, because it was still in working stages, but it would at least get the job done. "Come on, Astor, let's get to Dad's study."

"We're not allowed to go in there."

"Since when do you follow the rules?"

"Good point." Besides, she was pretty sure her father could forgive her for going in his office when it meant saving his life. "So what's in there?" She smirked as they made a break for the study. Not having any time to worry about locks, she instructed Astor to slice off the doorknob, which he did. She pushed open the door and moved to a cabinet on the right side of the room, opening it as quickly as she could. Inside was a metal sphere with a flat computer screen on the top, and a voice-activated speaker. Astor stared at it as she pulled it from the cabinet and powered it up. "What is it?"

"A teleportation device. Dad never uses it because it's not all that good, from what I understand, but it'll at least get us within the vicinity of where we want to go." She wasn't going to use it that often because of the weakness in it, there was a risk of being sent to a completely wrong address, or a matter of mere miles from where you wanted to go. Her cousin Estelle's address was one of the preprogrammed addresses, so she knew the device could at least get there safely, and that was exactly where she wanted to put her relatives, because even Martin might not find them there. "It's not all that strong, sure, but it'll do the job at least this once. I'm going to use it to get our family over to Estelle's as we save them."

"Martin won't be able to find them will he?"

"I highly doubt he will. Estelle's more protected and safer than even _Rocky_, Martin's thuggish family couldn't even find _me_ because nobody in Sviederbach even knows what car Estelle drives!" Speaking of which, she knew it would be a bad idea to walk by Estelle's car, thus showing it off to the world, but at the same time it wasn't so crucial to worry about. "No one even knows where she, Uncle René and Aunt Madeline live. She's our first stop." Aveline used the flat keypad beneath the screen to scroll down, much like a GPS of the older days, and locate Estelle's address. When she clicked enter, she grabbed onto Astor's wrist and smirked confidently at him. "Get ready, Astor."

"I can't believe _you_ got a hold of this before _I _did." She chuckled and straightened her back as a swirling tornado of wind started to form around the two of them. She only used the device once, and it did leave a bad taste in her mouth, but it was something to get used to. Her dad was mad at her for using it though, his statement was that it was easy to get lost while using it. "Are you _sure_ it'll get us to Estelle's?"

"Yes, because that's the only place I think it knows how to get to without any trouble…" Everything around them shifted, and in a split second, they were standing in the middle of a garden of flowers and grass all around them. A woman in yellow overalls and a sun hat over her long blond hair was staring at them with wide eyes. The woman had gardening gloves on and was knee deep in dirt. Aveline chuckled nervously and rubbed her neck. "Hey Aunt Madeline, is Estelle around?"

"Do you know how long it took me to plant those flowers that you and your brother just trampled? Yes, she's in the house with her father, trying to calm down." The family had their ways of de-stressing, and gardening was what calmed Madeline down the most. Of course the woman looked stressed, and rightly so.

"Thanks! And I'm sorry about your garden." Madeline sighed and smiled softly at the two.

"It's fine…I'll just replant them…" Aveline and Astor hurried towards the back door of the house, amazed that the device actually got them there. Once again it left a feeling of nausea in her gut, but she brushed it off for a more important purpose. When inside, they found Estelle watching television on the couch in her front room, tears in her eyes, and René beside her. Estelle looked up at her and ran over to her, hugging her.

"Aveline, thank god you're safe."

"As safe as 'safe' can be right now…" Estelle stepped back and nodded her head, wiping her eyes. How could she say she was safe when she had to deal with a collar that could explode and take her life at any moment? "Estelle, Uncle René, I want your help. We need to stay a step ahead of Martin, all right?" The two looked at each other, then back to her, acknowledging her comment with a nod. "When I rescue one of my relatives, I'm going to send them here, where they'll be safe. Is that okay?"

"We'll do anything to help," René replied. Estelle agreed without hesitation. "If you want to send them here, we'll gladly take them in." She was ecstatic to be able to depend on them.

"Thank you!"`She tapped the front of her collar and narrowed her eyes. René moved over to her and she started whispering. "Uncle René, do you think you recognize these things? I know you have a drinking buddy that's a scientist…maybe he knows a little about them…call him. When we bring Kuno and Michael over, I want him studying those collars."

"Agreed."

"Thank you." If she was right, the cameras attached to the collar could only see what was in front of them. However, she had been feeling something on the back, and when she looked at the back of Astor's collar, she'd been able to see a small metal flap that was covering some light. Could it be possible to deactivate the collar somehow? In which case, René and his friend could deactivate the collar from behind while leaving it on, and Martin wouldn't be able to do shit to her family. "Okay, we're going to hit the lake, and I'm hoping Martin truly will keep his word…"

"I can't believe they separated the twins," Estelle muttered. "Those two are never apart, they can hardly _be_ apart!" Aveline growled as the bile started to burn her esophagus. She truly wanted to kill Martin for what he did to her family. She'd be certain he got his just desserts. "Are you really going to execute them?"

"It's Sviederbach law, and as a stand-in for my father in captivity…yes, I am going to personally execute each and every one of the ones who took my family." She turned to Astor and put her hand on his shoulder, she was ready to get the hell out of there. "Let's go, Astor. Any complaints, would you like to stay with Estelle?"

"No, I'm going with you." He bowed his head and slowly closed his fists. "I should have been watching Kuno and the twins. It's my fault they're gone." Her expression softened and she knelt down, looking into his eyes.

"Astor it isn't your fault. If it hadn't been for you messing around with that disk thing, I'd probably be trying to get you out of this whole mess. I'm _glad_ you weren't taken. You're my little brother and I love you, I don't want anything to happen to you, Astor…don't feel responsible, if you can be safe, I want you to be safe." He shrugged and looked away.

"Since when do I listen to you? I'm not staying here, I'm helping." She was startled when he grabbed the teleportation device and called out their next destination. With a proud smirk, she rose to her feet and held onto his shoulder.

"Fine by me."

* * *

Your thoughts?


	13. Aveline's First Kill

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 13 (Aveline's First Kill)

The two teleported just outside the gates of the private park, amazed that the device got it right and didn't shoot them all the way to some foreign country. Without waiting to scan her surroundings, Aveline started to push open the gates. Astor was watching from behind, looking up at the two trees at the gate. Just as she was about to step through, she was grabbed and pulled back from behind. "Watch out sis!"

"What are you-" Arrows shot out at the gate, startling her. "Okay, future reference, check surroundings…" Of course Martin would lay traps for her, why _would_ he want to make it any harder on her? She looked up to the trees and narrowed her eyes. "Motion sensor arrow machines. How many of those arrows do you think are packed in there?"

"I don't know, but I don't think I want to find out, do you?" Perhaps using the teleportation device wasn't the best thing to do. What would have happened if it put them right in between those trees? "If they're motion sensors, then remaining completely still would help. Not sure how helpful it would be in order to actually move." She narrowed her eyes and started looking around the street. Driving a car through would be good, but it might not help with the glass windshields. What could they use? "We need some sort of shield, sis…"

"Thank you, Mister Obvious." Astor rolled his eyes as Aveline turned her gaze to the machines in the trees. If they detected motion, then could they catch an arrow, or would that be too fast? "I'm going to test something." She withdrew her bow, then grabbed an arrow from her scabbard. She aimed directly in between the two trees and closed her left eye, steadying her aim. A bead of sweat ran along her neck. She slowly pulled the arrow back, counted to three, and fired it off.

She lowered her bow, watching the arrow whiz by the trees, generating a gust of wind. The two machines snapped in the direction and began firing at each other. Astor exclaimed in surprise as Aveline's heart swelled with pride. Because the arrows were shooting at one another, they were detecting the other motion as the other arrows entered the machine's range. After several hits, the machines began popping, then finally fell out of the trees and crashed into the ground. "Nice one, Sis. How'd you know that would happen?"

"I call it…" She moved into a mock dramatic pose and swept her hair from her forehead. "'Lucky Shot'." He was unimpressed, so she moved on. Of course, she would remain careful, so as not to trigger anymore traps. "I can only hope Martin hasn't put traps like those everywhere, no innocents need to suffer from this mess."

"Yeah really." She wondered if walking along the path would be too obvious, perhaps they needed to stay off of the park's sidewalk trail. "Do you think they're holding Kuno at the lake, or was that a clue just to mean 'within the park'?" Her eyebrows rose and she quickly looked to Astor. He had an interesting thought there, what if the clue was intentionally misleading?

"We still have to check the lake." Seeing as how Kuno was held at the lake, and Michael was held without Mia, she had a sinking suspicion that Martin was using their memories as a weapon against them. If this pattern were the case, she had a bad feeling about where some of the people would be held. "I just pray Martin isn't doing what I think he's doing…"

"And if he _is_, whatever that is?"

"Then I'm going to be extra pissed off. I'm worried he might be using fears and memories against everyone. Think about it, Kuno's at the water, and the twins are separated." Astor's face dropped and he quickly looked off to where the lake was. He was well aware of how bad such a thing could be. "I don't know what everyone's fears are, but I'm pretty sure we can find them depending on the clues."

"We'll find them all." He was afraid, she could see it in his eyes. As much as he was trying to be brave, as much as he were trying to fight back those tears, he was still just a young boy whose entire family could die in a single instant if they did the wrong thing.

"I promise we will, Astor." She had to be strong for him, for their country, and for their family. "Even if it kills me, we'll save them. God knows I won't rest."

"Then neither will I." Not only did their father's life depend on them, but their own lives depended on him. She didn't forget Martin's chilling words that he would kill them if they failed to rescue Gunther _and_ Ander. Winning was going to take every ounce of their strength, of that she was sure. "Can we hurry up? I'm not sure I trust Martin's word on that two days…"

"Well he did say he valued his word, but you could be right." Since they found the loophole that was the teleportation device, he might automatically shorten the deadline they had to rescue Kuno. "Astor, do you think they'll be in the same exact place?"

"What do you mean?"

"There's clues to everyone, just because they're captured together, does that mean they're in the same holding location? For instance, Kuno could be at the lake, but Michael might be on the other end of the park." His face paled at the thought. She didn't want to think like that, but unfortunately they had to consider all avenues. "I don't know what trick that snake has up his sleeves, but we need to prepare for anything."

She started walking, keeping her eyes peeled for anything that might be a problem, but there were no further traps. When the lake came into view, with a few trees blocking them from the lake, she stopped walking and held her hand out against Astor's chest. She put her hand to her lips and looked over to the tree next to her. There was a chance Martin was in communication with the people holding onto her family, so they could very well be prepared for her.

"Why are we stopping, Sis? I'd like to get my brothers back _now_."

"Patience is a virtue. Why do you think he put cameras at our collar? It's not just so Sviederbach can watch us, but he's watching too…" She narrowed her eyes and let out a low growl. "I hate to admit it, but Martin isn't an idiot. He knows that his family is in just as much trouble as ours."

"You're saying he's watching just to see if they appear on screen?"

"If they do, he could try to contact them to get out of the way. We have to rely on stealth and cunning. We have to outwit him." Yet that didn't mean they could sneak up behind the person. If they did that, Martin could always send word that they were coming up from behind. If they tried to cover the camera up when they found the people, Martin would know what was going on then as well.

"So what are we going to do?"

"I have an idea." She removed two arrows from her scabbard and walked over to the tree. The arrows were very durable and strong these days, so they could take quite a bit of abuse. She slammed the arrowheads into the sides of the tree, gripped the stem tightly with her hands, then wrapped her legs around the trunk. "Here we go, stand lookout, Astor."

"All right…" With each grunt, she slowly pulled herself to the top of the tree, taking about fifteen minutes to scale it. Carefully she crawled along one of the branches and looked out to the lake. "What do you see up there, Sis?"

"Hold on!" She narrowed her eyes and scanned the lake with her eyes. The closest edge of the lake was approximately twenty feet from the base of the tree. They were at the bottom edge of the lake, shaped like an eight. On the right shore, close to the middle of the lake, was a long dock. The dock was about forty feet from where she was, and on the dock was Malisa Lamont. She was seated in a small crane that held a cage in the lake. Kuno was seated in the cage with water touching his pants, the poor boy was rubbing his eyes, a sign that he was crying out. "The bitch…"

"What do you see?" She was well aware the branch was blocking the collar's view, so she would have to use that to her advantage. "Come on, I don't like being stuck down here with nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs…" She rolled her eyes and pointed to the lake.

"Here's something you can do. There's a dock out by the lake, go to it, but keep your hand on your sword."

"You're serious?"

"You wanted something to do, didn't you?" She grabbed an arrow and started adjusting it with her bow, holding the weapon in a sideways fashion. The woman was within. Days like this made her grateful for her mother's rigorous archery training. Archers measured their shots in meters, and she could shoot an arrow from about ninety-five meters away from their targets. That was an equivalent of three hundred and eleven feet. The dock being forty-five feet was close to fourteen meters away. However, that was on the ground, she was at an angle.

Now Astor was just a decoy, to get the woman away from that crane, and away from her brother. She turned her eyes a few feet behind the woman and saw Michael in a cage near some trees, he was calling out to the woman, possibly trying to tell her to let Kuno go. "Don't worry little brothers," Aveline whispered while locking her aim on the woman, "Big sister's here." She clicked her tongue and watched Astor make his way towards the dock, stopping halfway to call out to the woman in the crane. "Yeah, big sister's here, and she's pissed off."

Malisa stepped out of the crane and started to walk towards Astor, mocking him. It was almost too easy! She wasn't sure she could stomach killing a real person, but the fact that the woman was a criminal attacking her family, it made the kill a little easier to take.

The woman stopped halfway between the crane and Astor, grabbed a radio from her waist and froze. She looked up at the trees surrounding her, and started running for the crane. Aveline clicked her tongue and aimed a little ahead of the woman, then swiftly fired off the shot. "Come on, hit the target…" This was a lot different than shooting arrows at large birds or animals, hunting with her father.

The arrow pierced into Malisa's left hip, causing her to fall towards the ground. Aveline swallowed her disgust and fired two more arrows that pierced into Malisa's legs.

Thinking fast, she descended from the tree and ran out to the groaning woman. Astor ran up, his eyes wide. Aveline's heart was racing as the older woman cursed the two of them. "I knew I shouldn't have left that crane!" Malisa exclaimed. Aveline looked to the blood flowing from the woman, cringing at the smell that struck her nose. This was too much, far too much, and she really hoped Astor wouldn't have to take a life. Like her, his only experience at taking a life was from hunting with their father.

"What are we doing, Sis?" Astor asked. His eyes glazed over and Aveline's expression grew harder. She could hear both Kuno and Michael screaming out from their cells. She spotted a key chain with two skeleton keys, most likely they belonged to the cages holding her brothers. "Aveline? Are we really going to kill her?"

"Yes…" Slowly, she lifted the bow and arrow to the woman. Malisa would die anyway, and the pain she was going through was likely excruciating. Even if she lived, she'd be paralyzed from that first arrow. "Malisa Lamont?"

"What!" The woman snapped, swinging her hand at Aveline's leg, still trying to kill her. Aveline closed her eyes and breathed in, muttering softly beneath her breath.

"Father above, have mercy on this woman's soul. May this be a merciful arrow, be with her as she stands judgment before our ancestors…" Malisa continued her rant of curses, never once halting in her speech. Aveline released the arrow, putting an abrupt end to the woman as the arrow shot into Malisa's forehead. When she opened her eyes, tears burned her cheeks as she watched the blood flow from the wound.

Nausea and rage bellowed from her stomach as she took one step backwards. She lifted her head up to the sky and let out a powerful, rage-filled scream. Never before had she thought herself truly capable of taking human life, even that of someone truly inhuman. She was afraid to even touch this corpse. "Martin. You did this!"

"My god," Astor muttered. The boy fell to his knees and put his hand to his mouth. "This is real. This…is real…"

"This isn't a fucking _game_, Martin! Not if we're both losing family for it! That was your own grandmother, wasn't it? You put your family in this situation, you coward…" She reached down, taking the keys. "Astor…come on, I know it's hard, but we have to move…"

With tears in her eyes, she worked fast to free Kuno from the cell. She pulled the toddler into her arms, letting him wrap his fragile arms around her neck and weeping gently. Next was Michael, who was very grateful to be out of that cell. Astor and Michael hugged close as Aveline submitted Estelle's address into the teleporter once more.

As it began charging up, she turned her gaze to Malisa's body. It was hard pushing down the urge to vomit, and she would need to call paramedics to come pick up the woman's body. She opted to leave the arrows there, not daring to touch the items that drew first blood

She had to remind herself what this was for, and that she herself was being forced to carry out Sviederbach's strict execution laws. Now she knew how her parents felt whenever they had to take someone's life. God how she wanted someone _else_ to be the executioner. Today, September 20th, 2030, she had taken her first life.

"Damn this," she whispered as tears drenched her cheeks, "Damn this to hell. And damn you, Martin. Damn you for this."

* * *

Looks like it would have been a bloody fight, but they rescued two of their siblings. Tell me your observations.


	14. Controlling the Collars

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 14 (Controlling the Collar)

"She's back!" Estelle cried out as Aveline carried her brother into the house. The other two brothers slowly walked inside with her. Estelle took Kuno into her arms and looked to Aveline with concern. "Aveline? Are you all right?" Her muscles were tense, she was sweating bullets, and Malisa's blood had splashed out onto the bottom of her trousers. Her eyes flicked up to her cousin and Estelle put a hand to her shoulder. "I'm sorry Aveline, I know it's hard…you did what you had to do."

"It shouldn't have to be like this, Estelle. Anything I do might risk my family, and I can't take it." She wasn't a hero, not at all. How could anyone expect her to be? "They were slowly dipping Kuno into the water, Estelle…they were _torturing_ him." She'd received the clue to the next, but it was a bit confusing. The clue was obtained from Michael, as Malisa put the clue in his shirt pocket. "I got another riddle by the way. I think it's for Mia, we have twenty-four hours to find her…the clue mentions also that we have an hour of 'break time'." The thing about it was, they were required to take that break. They were not allowed to begin searching for the next until the break was over.

"Good, you need some rest."

"I _can't_ rest, don't you see? That's the torturous part." She looked over at Uncle René and Aunt Madeline, their friend was over and talking with them. The scientist was a man that looked a little older than René. He had grayish-brown hair, a fuzzy moustache, and wore casual dress. "Is that Uncle René's friend?" Estelle glanced over her shoulder and nodded.

"Yes." Estelle looked to the collar around Kuno's neck, then back to the collar on Aveline's and Astor's. "Hey, Kuno doesn't have a camera on his collar!" When Michael started walking past them, Estelle put a hand on his shoulder and looked down at his neck. "Michael doesn't either." Aveline raised an eyebrow and glanced over to Astor, smirking. He started to smirk in return, perhaps coming to the same conclusion. The hostages didn't need cameras on their necks when there were cameras nearby that were positioned on them. Martin only needed cameras on Aveline and Astor in order to see what they were seeing, to warn his family when they were getting close!

"Good, then I think it's safe to do this…" Aveline walked over to the end table and picked up a notebook and pen. She flipped it open and began scribbling down a message for her cousin, and Michael. Michael looked up and read with his eyes, figuring it was important to remain silent.

_"Be silent and allow Uncle René's friend to work on the back of your collar. We are going to discuss with Estelle the clue to finding Mia." _Michael nodded and took the notebook from her, then walked over to René and held up the book. René looked over to Aveline, she gave him an affirming look, then motioned for Estelle to follow her. Still holding onto Kuno, she moved to Estelle's bedroom with Astor. "Okay Estelle, here's the clue to Mia…" She pulled the slip of paper from her pocket and handed it to Estelle.

Her cousin read the clue aloud, then hummed in thought. "Alone in a dark place without my brother, not even the diamonds surrounding me look pretty to me. Wait an hour before you look, you have twenty-four hours to find me." Estelle lowered the clue and looked up to Aveline. "The only place I know that she could be is the caverns in the Diamond district."

"Seriously?" That place was named for the caves in there, home to the only diamond caves in Sviederbach. Not only were the caves dark, minus a room deep within the caves that was lit up with millions of beautiful diamonds, but the caves were very treacherous. "First they separate the twins, and then he considers putting her _there_? Why?"

"It's a guess, but if you remember that time you and I took your brother and sister over there…" How the _hell_ would Martin know about that? Then again, if his family knew about Kuno's fear of water and that lake, then he did do his research. She and Estelle had taken Michael and Mia to the diamond caves about three years ago, Mia of course started to wander off, but Michael found her and brought her back to the girls. They made it all the way to the diamond room, then left without bothering the diamonds there. "If they took her there, it wouldn't surprise me. Think you can get her out?"

"It'll be tough, because I know those caves aren't all that safe…I barely even want to take Astor along on this whole mess, but he insists." She didn't think she was allowed to look without him anyway, Martin may just be that cunning.

What if they searched the wrong place and Mia wasn't there, where else would she be? She was certain not every one of them could be stuck in Sviederbach, Martin didn't seem all that clumsy. They'd have to check the caves anyway, and she truly wanted to hurry up and get there _now_ rather than waiting a whole hour.

The hour passed by slowly for Aveline, much of it had been comforting the young child while Michael sat patiently with René and the scientist friend. Of course, neither Astor or Aveline could see him, otherwise they'd be giving Martin clues as to what was going on with _their_ camera. She was impatient though, and kept sending Estelle back and forth to figure out how everything was going.

From what she understood, the back of the collars had four special screws attached to the strange flap and could only be removed with a special screwdriver that René's friend did have. Once the flap was open, it seemed there were two wires, one would blow immediately while the other would deactivate the bomb. René had history being on a bomb squad when he was younger, so he knew exactly which wire to snip, and so after nearly an hour of working, they _finally_ deactivated Michael's collar.

The trick was now doing that with a crying toddler, who even after all this time, _still_ wouldn't shut up. Aveline carried Kuno through the rooms, her head pounded with each step. "I know Kuno, I know, but you need to be quiet…" She set him down in the chair Michael had been in and knelt in front of him. She met his eyes and smiled softly, reaching up to broom his hair a bit. "You're safe now, okay? Nobody is going to hurt you anymore, Kuno." Kuno sniffled and reached up to hug her neck again.

"Promise?" Kuno blubbered. Aveline grabbed a nearby tissue and carefully wiped the boy's eyes and nose. "Big Sis, you pomise?" Her eyes glazed over and she gently kissed his forehead. She would do everything to protect her siblings. Now that they found a way to deactivate the bombs in the collars, she wanted to deactivate Astor's. However, she wasn't going to deactivate her own.

"I promise." She was sick to her stomach, imagining the worst to come should she fail her mission to save her family. She didn't want Astor or her siblings to suffer because of her own failure, and thought over this for the past hour before making her decision. Should something happen, should she fail to save Ander or her father, her siblings would not be killed when Martin triggered the bombs. Astor could take care of them, but she would willingly let her collar go off as she knew well the vengeful person she might become if she failed to save them. "Kuno, you couldn't be any safer than you are now…I'll bring Mom and Dad back as well, I'll bring everyone back."

"Will you be safe, Sis-Sis?" She chuckled and bowed her head for a moment. What was she supposed to tell him? Aveline moved her gaze back up to him as he stifled a whimper. "Avey?"

"No matter what happens, Kuno…I will _always_ protect you, I will always love you, and as long as you are safe and happy…so am I." Kuno appeared satisfied, smiling slightly and hugging her neck.

"I love you big sis."

"I love you too, now be quiet for big sis and Uncle René okay? Do whatever they ask, and stay out of trouble. Can you do that for me?" Kuno nodded and sat up straight, smiling proudly in an attempt to impress his elder sister. She rubbed his head and rose to her feet. Tears stung her cheeks and she slowly turned away as René and his friend moved behind Kuno. "I be good for sis."

"Good." She started to walk off and looked over to Astor, he was eyeing her with great concern. The bomb in his collar had been deactivated, but he was still upset over the fact that she hadn't deactivated hers. They couldn't talk about it either, because Martin could hear. She could see the confusion and fear in his eyes though. He would just have to trust her, regardless. "Let's focus on saving Dad and Ander, all right Astor? Our family will be safe, I'll make certain of it."

"Aveline, if we don't make it…"

"Do you think you would be able to rule the country if you had to?" His eyes grew large. She walked over to the other side of the room and took her seat on the couch. Astor hurried over to her, protesting the statement. "If somehow you survived and I didn't, do you think you would be able to rule in place of me? I know you're twelve, but…You wouldn't be the youngest person ever to rule a country."

"But I'm not going to have to worry about that, _am_ I, Aveline?" She responded only with her silence, dipping her eyes onto the floor. "Aveline?" He pushed her and she quickly looked up at him. "Come on…that won't happen…"

"You never know what may happen, Astor."

"I don't even have a choice for a spouse!" He wasn't even dating, much less interested in dating at the moment. How could he find a spouse at twelve years of age? Even now, their father made May 16th the official day of coronation for a new term king, no matter what, with an interim ruler. Should something happen, Astor would have that amount of time to find a spouse. "Come on Ave, please don't…"

"Just relax…" Her collar started sounding off and Martin's voice came over. She raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat. "These things are radios too, Marty-boy?"

"Yes," Martin replied. "For ease of access to you. Your hour's up, you'd better start looking for your sister. I must say, I'm intrigued, though the last hour has been pretty boring if you ask me." She narrowed her eyes and growled at him, responding only with sarcasm.

"So sorry I haven't been entertaining for you, asshole. You should know, I'm not too thrilled with what you've done to my siblings."

"Why do you think I'm letting you find them first?"

"I don't know, you don't have a damn heart." There was a long pause before anyone commented on that. When Martin did respond, there was a dangerous sneer in his tone.

"You think I don't have a heart? My grandmother is fucking dead and your siblings are alive. If I wanted to, I could blow them all to hell right now. So I wouldn't be questioning my hospitality, Bitch." Oh he did _not_ just call her that. She narrowed her eyes and slowly rose to her feet.

"You better enjoy the last few moments of your life, because as I said…when I save my family, I'm going after your ass."

"Oh I'm _so_ scared…good luck, _Princess_." The collar clicked off and the static noise was gone. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. Now that the hour was up, she was more than happy to go after her sister.

* * *

So tell me your thoughts on this, what is surprising to you? What relieves you, any questions?


	15. Discoveries

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 15 (Hidden Discoveries)

Standing before the diamond caverns brought back many a nostalgic memory for her, but she didn't feel she had the time to reminisce. This was not going to be such an easy task, given how much hassle there probably was waiting for her in the caves. "You shouldn't be here, Astor…" He looked up at her and started towards the cave. Her eyes widened and she quickly went after him. "Astor, what are you doing?"

"I'm going after Mia. Whether or not you think I should be here doesn't much matter right now." She chuckled and quickly took the lead. She was proud of him, but who could blame her for being concerned that he was there in danger? At least she could protect him better, but there was still that concern that she wouldn't be able to if something went horribly wrong. "We're in this together whether you want us to be or not. In all honesty, I think I'm pulling your weight, Sis."

"Oh yeah right. Anyway, since I'm your older sis, _I'm_ in charge."

"Then start _acting_ it." He smirked at her and she huffed at him, still smiling though. As they continued their walk, making sure to remain on solid, dry ground, they took notice of the walls starting to grow narrower. Astor moved close to her while she scanned the floor for any water. She was well aware that caves could be very misleading, even a small looking puddle could be fifty feet deep. "In hindsight, we could have packed a torch." She chuckled and grabbed the pack that was hanging from her shoulder, it had several necessities for their travels. Including a flashlight.

"I'm pretty sure the flashlight Estelle provided will do the trick." She reached in and grabbed a long black flashlight, it had a very powerful bulb and fresh, long-lasting batteries. The brand name of the flashlight was so rightly named 'Torch'. "Uncle René has the best friends." She flipped the flashlight on and grinned as the beam lit up everything around it. "Mia might be in the deepest room, so we have a bit of a walk…stay close and keep your eye open for any traps."

"Will do." It could take about three hours just to find the room, so they hoped Mia was there to be found. While walking, Aveline kept moving the beam back and forth, making sure to scan _everything_ while Astor held onto her shirt.

For about twenty minutes they were silent, the cave had grown darker, and more water was strewn about. From prior experience, she knew crystals and diamonds wouldn't start appearing on the walls until they were at least halfway in. Currently, they were just drab and grey. "Hey Aveline?" Astor looked up to her and cleared his throat. "How long have you and Ander been dating? Can I ask? I knew you were dating someone, but I didn't know it was him…" She did feel a bit guilty for keeping it a secret, and was well aware that anything she said could be heard by everyone, including her own family.

"It's been a few years. We didn't know how people would take it, so we kept it hidden."

"You could have saved yourself a lot of hassle with most of the guys that came around…" She had to agree with him there, one benefit with people knowing she was with Ander was less people coming around more often. "Must have been hard for him to see you having to deal with those people."

"Yeah, that was the price we paid for secrecy."

"You know, Mom and Dad had a secret relationship when they were younger." She nodded and slowly moved the beam to the ceiling. There was a stalactite dripping water. Water was always purest in a cave, and littering was highly illegal in Sviederbach. "That lasted for a little bit before they were found out…"

"They were found out because they got pregnant." Astor raised an eyebrow and looked up to her. She winked at him and jerked a thumb to her chest. "That's right, I ended their secrecy." He began to crack up, smiling as she put a proud face on. "That's right, it was all me. Beautiful little embryo-fetus version of me growing in my momma's womb." Astor rolled his eyes and looked straight ahead at the dark tunnel they were about to enter. He sighed heavily as Aveline pushed forward. "But yeah, it's hard to deal with secret relationships, at least mom and dad didn't have to pretend to date someone else…"

"You never pretended, you weren't ever interested, and you told those guys you weren't interested. It was their own damn fault for not listening." She raised an eyebrow and looked to him, his expression was tense and angry. Had he often felt this way towards those men that came around? She never saw him react in such a way to any of them. "Ander's been treating you right?"

"Yes. A lot better than those guys that come around. That was one thing Martin _was_ right about…Ander's the best choice for a spouse…"

"I guess." He started to yawn and shook his head afterwards. "You and Ander, you two haven't…you haven't had sex have you?"

"No, we don't want to get into that." Besides, she didn't want to end up pregnant like her mother had when she was young. "What we have….we respect one another, as well as ourselves. I guess you'd have to wait a few years to really understand it…maybe." He was a pretty smart kid, he understood a lot of things. "He does boss me around, he doesn't hit me, he doesn't try to take advantage of me…a guy like that really seems like one in a million. Hell, even Martin's bad about that towards his girlfriend."

"That girl, Mala?"

"Yeah. She needs someone like…" Aveline tapped her chin and glanced at the walls. Crystals were beginning to reveal themselves, an indicator that they were at least halfway into the cave. "She needs someone like Art, Ander's roommate at the apartments. He seems to treat her right."

"Just remember it's not your relationship, Sis." Was he implying that she would attempt to meddle? Now why would she go and do that? "You know, I seem to remember something…Tabitha Nilsine, that's her mom, right?" She nodded and Astor moved his hands behind his head. "I read up on her execution once, her very final words when she was hung was about finding her child. I don't think she got rid of her daughter willingly, do you?"

"Brustrum was the type to cover his bases, so I wouldn't be surprised if something happened there." Everyone in her family was ashamed to be related to that man, even she was ashamed to be related, and she never knew him. "She said she'd been dumped off with the Lamont's since she was young, so I think the key is figuring out what that connection is." Astor rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes.

"You've studied the history of our ancestors haven't you?"

"Of course, that's like one of the biggest requirements for me. I _have_ to know that history." Where was he going with this?

"Well this isn't the first time a Lamont has tried to assassinate or unseat the King, right?" Of course, she couldn't forget about Stefan Lamont taking the life of their ancestor. "Go back along the line, every term has had someone attempt to take them, haven't they?"

"Maybe…"

"Seriously, think back on your studies, Martin's family is the most determined crime family on the planet!" She hummed and scratched her head. She thought back onto her studies, and yes, almost every term ruler had mentioned some point of time where someone made an attempt on their life. Some, more than once, but not always by the same people. "I mean sure multiple people have tried over time, but there's almost _always_ been one of Rodger Klemens's descendent on that list."

She went over this particular study with Rocky long ago. When Sara's son Conrad was in his third year, Thor Klemens tried pushing him over the edge of a balcony, but failed when one of the Royal Guards stopped him. Next was Kai Klemens, who married Sven Lamont, mother to Stefan Lamont. She attempted to poison Term King Leon's drink, but there was a regulation in place at the time for a guard member to check all drinks and food before the ruler. A guardsman sipped the drink, collapsed on the floor. When Kai ran, they chased after her and caught her.

In 1898, a man named Peter Lamont shot at Julianne Heinrike-Brustrum's carriage. She _did_ take a bullet to the arm, but it grazed her. Peter's son Issak was one of the crazier members of the Lamont chain. While Emeric Brustrum was giving his coronation speech, Issak charged in with a knife, stabbing several people, but he didn't get close to Emeric, who slipped out the back. That same man attempted to take Eldric Brustrum's life several years later in similar fashion. He got halfway into the castle, walking, before a guard recognized him and sent him out.

Even Ander Brustrum had a near miss with a man named Jonathon Lamont, granted it was _before_ he was to take the throne. Jonathon took a job as his chauffer and attempted to drive Ander and his father Eldric into a lake. The car died before it ever hit the lake, so he exited and took off in a run.

All of these attempts were so small that they were easily overlooked, but now that she thought about it, everything made sense. "Astor, I don't remember reading about an attack on Hans Brustrum."

"He had a lot of things erased from record, didn't he?" While that was true, why would he try to cover up an assassination attempt on his own life? "Also if I read up correctly, the Lamont family vanished, they went away around 2008." The same year Mala was born. "Considering it was sexual assault…Sviederbach Law would have called for immediate execution…"

"He needed the baby to disappear." Was it bribery? Did he bribe the Lamont family to leave him? What would they have for that? "If the Lamont family attempted to take his life, they would have been thrown in his dungeon…"

"They needed their rap sheet erased."

"But…" She lowered her voice, whispering to herself as she tried to piece it all together. "Take the baby and live without a black mark over your head…oh my god. It was all his fault, wasn't it? Tabitha's rage was his fault…"

"Even today, his legacy as Sviederbach's evil king is still a black mark."

"So you've got it all figured out, do you?" A voice asked. Aveline and Astor quickly looked up, having gotten lost in their conversation. They didn't even notice that they'd walked right into a very bright diamond and crystal filled room. In the center was Mia, screaming at them from the cage. Beside her was Martin's aunt Regina. She had two long knives in her hands and a narrow glare in her eyes. "Damn good job theorizing, you really know your history! Impressive…"

"You don't have to do this."

"Oh that's where you're wrong. I do. You see, you're right…" Regina stepped forward as Mia cried out again. The woman snapped at her, pointing the knife at the cage. "You shut up little girl!" The kid silenced and Aveline started to charge forward, stopping only when Astor grabbed her wrist. Regina turned her gaze to her and smirked. "In 2002 Jonathon Lamont died, his son Albert decided it was his turn to step up. In 2007, Albert Lamont and his two sons, Henry and Chuck, along with his grandson Steven, all attempted to kill King Brustrum. Their wives were still home, Steven's wife, Auda, she was pregnant with Martin at the time…"

"Sounds like Steven had a lot to lose, then."

"Oh yeah, of course my other brothers…Max and Eric, they tried a few months later, which is why _their_ wives don't have any children…their 'wedding gift' was supposed to be the head of Brustrum." She rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "So my family gets chucked in that jail cell and the chief that time-"

"Tabitha?"

"Yeah, she kept putting off her duties because lo-and-behold, Brustrum knocked the bitch up!" Aveline growled angrily and Astor slowly moved his hand to the handle of his sword. Could he really kill this woman if it came down to it? Regina chuckled and shook her head. "So you want to know what happened? All I know is they came back home with a baby. When Brustrum died and your pathetic father stepped up, we only had to bide our time and plan our revenge…it took eighteen years, but here we are."

"You-"

"Relax sis, she's only trying to rile you up…" Astor grasped the handle of his sword and narrowed his eyes. "We don't have to fight. Just let our sister go." Regina laughed and shook her head.

"No. I gave up having a life for my family. I gave up marriage, having children, all so my family could do this. I am _not_ going to stop now!" She charged forward, swinging her blades inwards. Astor yelped and withdrew his blade, holding it in front of him, letting her knives clash against his sword. "You think you're going to stop me, little boy?"

Aveline's heart rushed into panic state, she definitely did not want Astor fighting this woman. "Astor!" Astor clenched his teeth as Regina pulled her knives back and started to stab at his sides. He jumped back and swung his blade in defense, accidently slicing off Regina's right arm. His eyes widened as the woman let out a piercing scream.

"How dare you!"

"It was an accident!" Astor cried out. "You don't need to fight, we don't have to do this." Regina roared angrily and glared at him.

"There's no such thing as _peace_."

Seeing that this was going nowhere, and the woman was only getting deadlier, Aveline hurried to draw her bow and arrows. She aimed at the back of the woman, who was striking Astor with ferocity. He was blocking every blow with the sword, all taught by their father.

"Leave my brother _alone!"_ She fired off a shot, striking Regina in the back of her neck. The woman gasped for air and slowly turned around, her eyes were wide and blood was dripping from her Adam's Apple. Aveline watched with disgust as the woman fell to her knees. "Oh god…"

"Aveline! Astor!" Mia cried out. The girl's cheeks were red and puffy, her eyes were swollen, and tears were dripping from her jaw. "Where Michael?" Without hesitation, Aveline grabbed the keys off the woman's waist and unlocked the cage. Mia fell into her arms, sobbing frantically as she tried to soothe her.

"You're safe now. Michael's safe too…never fear. Big Sister's here and I'm not going to let anything else happen to you."

"What going on?"

"Shh, it's okay Mia…" Mia sniffled and looked down to her right hand. She lifted it up and opened it, revealing a crumpled paper. "What's this?"

"That lady said to give it to you…" Aveline took the paper and held onto her sister as Astor walked over and fired up the teleportation device.

Once at Estelle's, she sent Mia to René and his friend. Mia was ecstatic when she saw Michael. It was the best Aveline felt since this whole mess began. To her, her siblings were the most important. After a couple minutes of recovering, she read the clue, slightly confused as to who it belonged to. Automatically, from the first few words, she knew the wait time was going to be hellish.

"Take a night of sleep, begin the hunt at nine in the morning. I have only ever been defeated by one person, and it is here where not only did I suffer my first defeat, but I lost my first love as well. You will have ten hours when the clock begins."

* * *

Well we've made quite a discovery here with Regina, a little more about Tabitha. What do you guys think of this chapter. The next clue, any ideas who and where it is? If you read Flames, you should be able to remember.


	16. Meek Heart

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

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Chapter 16 (Meek Heart)

"It's not true, tell me it's not true!" Mala screamed as she struggled against Martin's arms. She wanted to get away from him, from his entire family. She wanted to find Art, she needed to talk to him. He always made her feel better. Martin growled and threw her onto the ground, she let out a loud yelp and looked up at him with wide eyes. "Don't hurt me, please…"

"I'm really stressed right now, Mala. I do _not_ need this." Why should she care about him? She didn't. He didn't care about her, none of them did. From what they heard over the speakers, it _sounded_ like Regina was implying that either King Brustrum, or her mother, one of the two, handed her over to the Lamont's. She already knew this, but the speculation made her suspect whether or not her mom intended it. "What the hell are you looking for anyway?"

"All my life, I've wanted answers, and I still want answers Martin." She flinched as he lunged for her, grabbing her shirt and pulling her up. She began struggling under him and looked into his deadly glare. If her mother was so strong, so powerful, why couldn't she at least stand up for herself? "Martin…" In the corner of her eyes, she thought she saw a mist in the air. She couldn't explain it, as she herself wasn't quite at the point of tears yet. Could he see it too?

"You want answers? It's just as we've told you all your life, your fucking mother dumped you with us. She didn't want you, never bothered to give a shit like we did. Okay? My fucking family took you in, so at least-" The mist was hovering in front of him now, but he didn't even acknowledge it until it moved around his head.

He released her, dropping her to the floor, and quickly grabbed his neck while gasping for air. The mist was shooting up his nose and into his mouth, scratches were appearing on his face from out of seemingly nowhere. She started crawling on her back towards the wall. They were next to the door that led into the underground dungeon that was no longer used, the mist had come from there she thought.

Martin started falling to his knees, still gasping out for air. In Mala's mind, she heard the word 'run'. An odd strength formed in her legs, allowing her to get up and bolt for the door. She needed to get away from him, away from his family, before they did anything else to her. She couldn't go far, as she was already out of breath, so she bent over behind a tree and started breathing heavily.

If she went back to the apartment, she might endanger Art, and she couldn't do that to him. As she looked to the door, she thought she could see the mist coming out after her. Her heart stopped and her breathing halted. Tears welled up in her eyes as the mist drew closer to her. She had a feeling of great fear, but yet, an unshakeable peaceful feeling was forming in her gut.

"I'm dreaming, that's what it is. I'm dreaming." Everyone knew ghosts existed with those Soul Disks, and she had thoughts that spirits existed in different forms outside of those disks, but she never looked into it all. She clenched her eyes shut and held her head in her hands. "I didn't just see a strange mist attack Martin…and there is no mist coming towards me." It had to be some phenomenon, maybe weather shifting or something.

The mist enveloped her and she let out a loud yelp. When she started to panic, she took a moment to pause. Nothing was happening, not like with Martin. Rather, she felt extremely warm, almost serene. She stood straight and dried her tears with her shirt sleeve. "What…" What was this feeling that she'd never experienced before? This warmth, it damn near frightened her. "I'm imagining this…" She should be scared of Martin running out after her, but she felt as though he were unconscious. She wasn't sure what was making her think this, but it was good to know he might not be coming out after her for a while.

She hugged her arms and began walking, the mist clung to her skin like a protective shield. The painful bruises and scrapes on her body felt as if they were being medicated with a cool compress. She moved her hands to her belly and closed her eyes, breathing in slowly. "Really, what is this mist…" Was it a ghost that hadn't crossed over yet? The ghosts belonging to soul disks were either ghosts that had crossed over, or spirits still clinging to the earth that were nearby when summoned. Those spirits were different, but she didn't know exactly how different. Either or, spirits that didn't move on were the ones that had work left unfinished. "Are you a spirit or just something strange in the air?" She really needed to look this up. Couldn't unexplained mists be something other than spirits? If there were, why was this one bothering with _her_? "Surely you have other people to visit or see. I'm not important enough to anyone…"

Her phone chimed, the tune was one associated with the adding of a new phone number. She raised an eyebrow and pulled her phone from her pocket, staring in wide eyed wonder at the name, it was Art. "I didn't add his number…" She looked back at the castle, then back to the phone, pausing as the mist started to go away. Taking a chance, she dialed his number. When he answered, her heart skipped a beat. Would he even talk to her? Tears formed on her cheekbones as she stammered for a split second. "Art it's Mala."

"Mala! You're okay?"

"Art…you don't hate me?"

"Why would I?"

"Because of Martin and his family, what they're doing to Aveline." He didn't take a second to confirm his opinion of her was still the same. Her heart began to rise up and she quickly wiped her eyes. "I thought for sure…I don't understand how you couldn't hate me."

"I don't think anyone hates you. Martin's kind of taking over the airways anyway…" She was tired of being abused, tired of being afraid, and just wanted someone to treat her right. Someone like Ander, someone like Art, men who actually knew how to treat a woman. "Are you okay? Do you want to come over?"

"I can't…I don't want Martin coming after you."

"He dropped his key, he couldn't get in here."

"He'd find a way, Art." Would he really protect her? The urgency in his voice told her he would do anything to protect her. Why? "Art…why do you even care?" She wanted to yell at him to turn away and forget her, that getting involved with her would only cause her pain because Martin would never leave him alone. It didn't help that Martin knew she was attracted to him, feelings were developing because he was caring. "You care, and yet, Martin could kill you…"

"I care about you because I know you're a beautiful woman who deserves to be happy. You have a heart, and you don't deserve to be smothered." She moved her hand to her chest and bowed her head. Her heart was pounding like a drum, and his soothing voice was generating something in her that she wished would remain there. "You are strong whether you know it or not, you've just let Martin push you down for too long…"

"I know. I don't love him, I don't even want to be with him, I just…"

She stopped and continued walking, holding back on her emotions. Maybe if she bit her tongue, she wouldn't have to reveal her most intimate fears and concerns. "What is it? Talk to me, I'm here." God how she wanted him to be right there with her, and not on the phone.

"I'm afraid I won't find anyone who wants to be with me because of my mother and what happened to her."

"That's not true at all, Mala. Plenty of people would want to be with you."

"My mother didn't even want me, Art. She let me be dumped in with the Lamont family…I don't even know what to do." She felt like she could trust him, where she didn't know who else to trust. This was a first by far, how could she honestly trust anyone? When everyone was busy hurting her, abusing her, she was busy tearing herself apart. "Art, be honest…would even you want to be with me? Knowing my mother is Tabitha, knowing I'm just damaged goods-" Her voice cracked. She had to take a deep breath and calm herself to continue. "Knowing my mom was sexually assaulted, she didn't even mean to have me! I'm screwed up, Art, I'm broken…I'm a terrible person…"

"Yes." She froze, waiting for his full answer. "Yes I would want to be with you despite all that you've said. You're not a terrible person, Mala. You've gone through hell, and that would make you stronger." Was he for real? Saying she was strong? "Your mother was strong, I think that's what history tells us. She may have made poor choices in life, but she was strong, and you're her daughter, that makes you strong as well. You just need to tap into that."

Her lips curled into a smile and she slowly closed her eyes. It was truly a shame she wasn't with him right now, but she was scared to leave Martin while knowing he'd just come after her. She was also scared to go back in there. Art's words were a comfort for her. She was confident that he would be one to hold her if he were there. "Thank you, Art…"

"Mala if you need anything, you just call me, okay? I'll do whatever it takes to reach you, you know that." She wiped her eyes again and quickly nodded.

"Thank you." Remembering the strange mist, she glanced back over her shoulder and eyed the castle in the distance. "Do you believe in spirits, Art? Like in the form of mists and stuff?"

"Sure, there are some people that hang back a while, looking for stuff."

"I didn't even have your number in my phone. Martin was going nuts and this mist comes out of nowhere, starts suffocating him and leaving all these little cat scratches on his face…when I ran, the mist came onto me. I felt…different…and then your number popped up in my phone. It was strange." Art hummed for a minute, which only made her more anxious than before.

"Maybe you have a spirit following you."

"I doubt it…" She heard Martin calling for her and looked back in a panic. "Oh no…" Martin was standing outside the castle, looking around frantically, anger was plastered onto his face. "Martin's up! I have to go, Art. I'm sorry!"

"Mala!" She hung up the phone and clenched her eyes shut, muttering as she heard Martin's footsteps towards her. It wasn't long before he grabbed her and started pushing her back to the castle. She chose not to fight him, as she didn't think that would do anything.

"Please Martin…" She truly was rooting for Aveline at this point. She didn't care what happened, she just wanted to get away from Martin, and wanted the royal family to be safe. So what if his family did horrible things to him, he didn't need to take it all out on her, she didn't deserve it.

* * *

A little view of Mala for you guys, what do you think?


	17. Snared

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 17 (Snared)

"Do you have any idea who this clue belongs to?" Aveline asked while sitting beside René on the couch. It was almost time to start moving, and she'd spent all night trying to determine who it belong to. The only thing she could come up with was possibly Rocky, but she wasn't completely certain. Where exactly would this location be if it were Rocky. "Rocky did lose to Tabitha once, I know that story." René snapped his fingers and smirked.

"Ah yes, I do remember this," René replied. Aveline was relieved now, she'd been worried they might not find the place before it was too late. Studying his face, she watched his expression fall for a brisk second, which told her this was not going to be pleasant. She prepared herself for a tragic tale and looked back as Ander walked in, brushing his teeth. Kuno and the twins were still asleep, but Aveline wanted to tell them goodbye before leaving. "I don't even know if that house is still there, to be honest." She looked back at him and pressed her lips together. "That's where the Bransford family lived when they were murdered by Tabitha, forced into acting on Adolf and Brustrum's orders. She arrived there and fought with Rocky, who lost against her, but the final blow had been dealt to Rocky's boyfriend at the time. He died to protect her."

"Oh god…" She put her hand to her cheek and dipped her eyes. How horrible did someone have to be to take Rocky to a place like that? So tender of a memory, a devastating one at that. She couldn't imagine what Rocky must be going through. "Uncle René, do you remember the exact location of that place? Have you ever been there?"

"Personally no, I haven't, but I do know it's located in Chicago, where your family's from." Of course, she knew that much. It was more a matter of _where_ the place was. Ander would know, but that was the problem. "It was closer to the outskirts of Chicago." Chicago is still a big town, how in the hell was she supposed to search the entire place for a single abandoned, burned down home that could very well have been demolished by now?

"Shouldn't that place be in the records for the Royal Guard?" Astor asked. Aveline raised an eyebrow and looked to him. "Think about it, Rocky's the chief so she could have documented it. Before then, however, the Royal Guard _did_ know the location." Aveline grinned and rubbed his hair, causing him to throw his hands up and swat her hand away.

"Good idea bro, let's check those records."

"You know where they're kept?"

"The Guard chambers."

They made haste to the guard chambers once Astor was completely finished brushing his teeth and getting ready to start the day. When they arrived, they were granted access into the Chief's quarters, which was an office with bookshelves lining the walls. Rocky's black metal desk sat in the middle of the room with a red leather chair behind it. There were various papers scattered about on the desk, Astor went to look at the papers and organize them in a neat fashion while Aveline eyed the rows of books lining the walls.

"How many volumes do the guards need?" They clearly knew everything about Sviederbach and the noble families, along with prisoners. She had to wonder just how many secrets the Royal Guards had. She listened to the shuffling of papers and glanced over to Astor. "Careful, you don't want to upset Aunt Rocky by messing up her documents."

"So I'm a little over compulsive, sue me." She laughed and walked towards the left corner of the room. Astor always had to have things in a neat and tidy order, just like their father. Aveline lifted her hand up to the books and started sliding her fingers along them. "How does Rocky find all the information?" Astor hummed, then exclaimed a discovery.

"File cabinet!" Aveline looked over as her brother made his way to the six foot tall file cabinet with six drawers. There were various labels, so he studied them carefully. "Probably going to deal with criminal activity."

"Right. Look under treason, attempted assassins, and somewhere we should find information on Tabitha. Or better yet, look up the Noble Families, find Bransford, and that should help us." She moved over to Astor, rubbing her chin. He hung his tongue from his mouth and opened the second drawer. It was surprising to see Rocky didn't lock it, considering how meticulous she was about security and privacy. "I wonder why she didn't lock it, but it's probably not all that important…"

"Yeah, I don't know." He pulled a file out and started thumbing through the documents. "Aha, Bransford Nobles. Check Volume XI." He looked up at the shelves, groaning. "Reference number 80-23941." Aveline put her hands to her hips, growling as she eyed the books. Normally she _loved_ books, but in this case, she would prefer to be dealing with anything _but_ books.

"I can't believe we have to do all this research just to find Rocky."

"Well, no one ever said this was going to be easy, Sis."

"True." She narrowed her eyes and started eyeing the tape on the bottom of each book. "We're going to have to talk to Rocky about her enormous book collection." Sure a lot of these books were there before Rocky's time as Chief. Each book was just a record collection containing new information. "Some of these books probably date all the way back to King Lothar and Chief Abelard."

"So let's look for the newer looking covers. See some of the ones back there have wear and tear…" He pointed to the books on the top shelves. Aveline chuckled and crossed her arms over. The books at the top were brownish in color and had some torn covers and pages, the ones towards the bottom were black or brown leather, and much cleaner in appearance. "So the record's going to be towards the bottom."

"Of course." She knelt down and steadied her gaze on the reference numbers on the spines of the books. Eventually she came towards _80-23941_. "Found it!" She grabbed the book and brought it over to the desk, laying it down carefully. "What page?" Astor hummed and looked back to the file. The book was incredibly thick, like an encyclopedia, so she really didn't want to thumb through the thousands of likely pages.

"They're marked on page 421."

"Thank you." She quickly opened up to the book and grinned at the gold patterned letters on the page. The Bransford symbol was on the top of the page, and it begun the extensive history. She continued flipping through the pages until she reached Noak Bransford. She moved her fingers along the words, speaking softly. "The Bransford nobles were exiled in the 9th year of the 2nd millennia. Their deaths occurred in Chicago, Illinois, in the country of North America…blah blah, home burned down, blah, Selver street, surrounded by forest! Got it!" Now with the knowledge of where to go, she was certain to be able to rescue Rocky. Hopefully Wilbert and Karla would be there as well. "You ready to save them?"

"Yeah, should we put this stuff away?"

"No time." She pulled the teleportation device out from her pack hanging from the quiver on her back, then grabbed Astor's shoulder. Rocky could put the stuff up whenever she got back. "I can't imagine Rocky's going to enjoy being cooped up in Estelle's home until we get the rest, but there's no choice. Cannot risk Martin killing the rest because Rocky decided to join us."

"Good point."

The device teleported them to Chicago, in front of some mall. She groaned and looked around for any recognizable locations. A man and woman were walking by, so she hurried over to them, stopping in front of them. They stared at her, moving their eyes up and down her body. "Okay question, which way is Selver Street?"

The man pointed off to the right. "About three miles that way."

"Thank you!" She signaled Astor and started rushing across the street. Eventually they found a taxi driving along the road, what better to use than someone who actually knew where the hell they were going? She hailed the cab and jumped in with Astor, though the large man driving seemed a little ambivalent about letting someone in with swords and arrows. "Sir, can you get us to Selver Street?"

"Yes, will you have the money for it?"

"Yes." She fortunately kept some American change with her. As rare as it was that she would ever have to use it, she always wanted to be prepared, and kept various currencies in her purse. "So put your foot on it if you can, we're in a hurry."

"Got it. I don't know what's there for you though, it's just an old abandoned road…" She lifted her shoulders and glanced out the window as the man started driving. She wasn't sure what they'd be running into now, but she prayed they could rescue Rocky in time. Hell, if they failed, she still wasn't sure what she'd do. There was no possible way to imagine a life without any of her family.

Astor leaned up and whispered to her. "We need to be careful, there could be traps." It was a good reminder, and very true. If the taxi driver wasn't careful, he could be put in danger, and she didn't need any civilians at risk. Aveline folded her arms over her chest and hummed to herself.

"Hey sir, don't actually drive onto the street. If you can, park about a block away." The man acknowledged the suggestion. She took a sigh of relief and leaned back, thankfully this guy wouldn't be thrust in danger. "What are we going to do, Astor? I can't stand the thought of losing everyone…"

"We'll get them Ave, don't worry. I believe in you." She smiled and reached over, hugging him. It felt good knowing he was there to support her, and if she had to have anyone at her side, she was glad it was her little brother. "Just don't lose confidence, because I think that's the only thing keeping me confident." She chuckled and swept away the tears accumulating in her eyes.

"Thanks. You know, you're the one keeping me calm…"

"So it's good."

"I'd be going crazy right now if you weren't here, little Bro. You tell anyone I said that, though, and you're in trouble." He smirked back at her and stuck his tongue out.

"Pretty sure everyone just heard it, in case you've forgotten that we're being recorded." She narrowed her eyes, the moment died.

"Ah my dear sweet little brother. I'm going to make you do all my chores once we're done."

"Hey! No fair!"

They arrived at the corner of the street and paid the taxi driver what he requested. After he drove off, the siblings readied their weapons, in case they'd have to use them. "Carefully now…" She glanced at the trees across the street and sighed, "Just past that forest…"

"All right." Aveline pressed forward, ignoring a feeling in her gut telling her to get to higher ground. What could there possibly be in this forest that would be bad? "Look out for bears…" Though bears were likely not going to be there. She wouldn't put it past the Lamont family to bring exotic animals in here. "Remember those hunts Dad takes us on? Think you could kill an animal if you had to?"

"Wouldn't like it, but yeah…"

"I have a bad feeling there's going to be something here. In which case, we run." Astor nodded and slipped behind a tree. Aveline looked over and frowned. "What's going on?"

"I hear something." Astor poked his head out and looked around. Aveline was impatient, so she wasn't entirely aware of her surroundings. When she saw Astor looking at her, he froze. His eyes went large and his lips parted. "Ave…don't move…"

"What?" She looked over her shoulder and was immediately overcome with fear, there were five snarling wolves glaring at her like she was a ribeye steak. Her heart began to pump out blood towards her organs, to create the feeling of flight, but she couldn't move. "There shouldn't be wolves out here…At least I don't think Chicago has wolves…"

"They don't."

"Astor…_run!_" The wolves lunged forward and her legs took off, shooting leaves away from her heels. All wolves followed her. She eyed her surroundings, ignoring the yelping of one wolf behind her. She reached for an arrow from her quiver and looked over her shoulder, whimpering as the wolves closed in on her. "Shit…"

This was the most fear she ever dealt with, and surely she couldn't hit any of these animals with her arrow. They were too close! She couldn't lose now. Not here. Her fingers tensed around the arrow and her eyes shot up towards an oncoming tree branch. Thinking fast, she put the stem of the arrow in her mouth and leapt forward, stretching her arms out towards the branch. _Don't fall._

Her fingers made contact with the branch, much to her pleasure. She swung her legs forward with a loud cry and flipped over the branch as three of the wolves ran under her. After twisting her body, she released the branch and dove towards the ground, landing on her legs and crouching mid-split. She jumped up and spun around, grabbing her bow from the quiver and putting the arrow up against it, aiming towards the wolves that were glaring at her.

"Weren't there just five of you?" The wolves were still snarling, their teeth glistening in the sun. She was in no mood for this. She slowly pulled the string and arrow back, aiming for the large wolf in the middle. Her eyes remained locked with the animal. She narrowed her eyes and the wolf started to lower its ears and lift its paw up. In an instant, the wolf took off running away from the scene. The brown wolf on the right began running towards her and she released the arrow into it's head, cringing slightly as the creature fell to the ground.

The next wolf caught her off guard, tackling her. She let out a scream and grabbed its head, trying to push it away as its drool fell on her. Her muscles ached as she continued her pushing. "Get off!" She screamed as the creature's claws tore through her left arm. Its snout came deathly close to her face and tears sprang from her eyes. The longer she struggled, the more her body began giving out. She was putting everything she had into this fight, she needed to reserve some of her energy for when she found Rocky and her captive.

"Get off my sister!" Her eyes widened as an object shimmering in the sunlight slid through the wolf's neck. Blood splattered onto her and all the air in her lungs shot out as her arms collapsed on the ground. Her chest heaved up and down with each attempt at bringing air into her lungs. Astor kicked the wolf's body off her. She looked up at him, devastated to see her little brother covered in animal blood, possibly from the other two wolves that had been in the pack. He was breathing heavily, his eyes full of fear and concern. "Aveline? Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, Astor…I…" She closed her eyes and tensed her left arm as the pain stabbed her once more, reminding her the wound was there. The slash wasn't incredibly deep, a little more than a shallow cut, but it still hurt like hell, and blood was gushing from the wound. "Do you still have that first aid kit Estelle gave you?"

"Yes."

"I need it…that wolf got my arm." Astor gasped and dropped the blade beside her, quickly kneeling next to her arm. He had a leather sack hanging from his shoulder, this sack held many first aid utensils. He studied her arm and put his hand over his mouth. "It's not so bad, right?"

"Oh god…" He reached into the sack and started pulling out the peroxide and bandages. "I'm going to be sick, Aveline." She breathed in deep and let out a scoffing chuckle.

"Astor I need you to be strong, all right? I know we've had a lot of sibling quarrels and all in the past, but…we have to work as a team. Remember all those teamwork lessons mom and dad gave us?"

"Yeah…"

"This is it. Be strong for me. I won't move, just wrap my arm up." Tears dripped from Astor's eyes as he quickly nodded his head and went to work. She closed her eyes, wincing once she felt the sting of the peroxide pouring over her wound.

Whenever she found Rocky, whoever had her and set up this trap was _dead_ when she found them, of that she was certain. She might not like killing them, but after this mess, one could bet it wasn't going to be pretty.

* * *

Ouch, that looked painful. Well, what do you guys think of the chapter? Tell me your observations ^_^


	18. Saving the Bodyguards

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 18 (Saving the Bodyguards)

"We'll both need to shower when we get back," Aveline muttered. She already took her shower before they started on this trek, but it was a small price to pay when one had to get covered in animal blood. She and Astor did their best to clean up with some water at a small creek nearby, but she still had blood mixed into her hair, and she hated it.

"Look at it this way sis, that stuff matches your hair." Astor smirked as she turned a slow glare onto him. They didn't have much longer to find and save Rocky and her kids. Only four hours remained, but fortunately they knew where exactly they were headed. Astor scratched at his hair and sighed. "How come it took you so long to figure out what Martin might be up to?" She shrugged her shoulders and clenched her fists.

"Because he didn't _seem_ dangerous. He only seemed like a jackass that had anger issues in regards to his girlfriend." She wanted to know how Mala was doing, to be honest. She was concerned for that girl's mental and emotional health, but at least, it would all be over soon enough. "I bet if Tabitha were still alive and had found Mala, she would have taken Martin out real fast." Astor laughed, nodding agreeably. From researching, they both knew how determined Tabitha was to get things done, so if she had never passed, she probably would have found Mala. It was a pity she lost her mind after a while, took out her anger on the wrong people.

After some amount of walking, the bitter smell of sulfur stung her nostrils. She waved her hand in front of her face and looked into the distance, gasping when she saw a house on fire. Instantly the fear that they were too late was eating away at her. Astor saw this as well and began running towards the house. "Aveline, are we too late?" No, they couldn't be, they _still_ had more time! She clenched her teeth and ran after him. If they were too late, she was going to be _pissed. _"Rocky! If you're over there, say something!" She moved her eyes toward the right and upon instinct, stopped running.

"Astor wait! It might be a trap." Astor looked back, stammering slightly. She couldn't risk letting him die. "We need to investigate the surroundings."

"You're right, can't run into the burning building on the off chance that Rocky could be in there…What on earth was I thinking?" Aveline rolled her eyes and stepped next to him, putting her hand to his shoulder and scanning the area.

"We don't know for a fact that any of them are in there. Call the fire department over here and I'll look around the place." It seemed like this place should be where Frankie and Karin would be, not Rocky and her kids. "Martin's getting his kicks off by playing some sort of game here, so he's not going to prematurely kill someone. Rocky was _behind_ the building, so maybe she's on the other side."

"All good points."

"Yeah…" Aveline started to walk around the right side of the building, moving slowly in case she stepped onto any traps. The heat of the fire was practically melting her skin, drying it up. She could hear the ranting of a young girl, likely Karla. Relief swept over her as she carefully poked her head around the corner of the house.

Karla was tied to one of the three crosses, screaming angrily at the man standing before her in a black suit, Steven Lamont! Karla had bruises running along her body and a purple circle around her right eye. Her lip was split at the corner and angry tears were shooting from her eyes. Steven looked gravely annoyed with her, instilling pride in Aveline. She knew Karla would give hell to anyone that took her, she did take after her mother.

Steven slowly looked over and his lip curled into a smirk. Karla turned her head, her face turned to terror and she screamed out. "Aveline! Look out!" A tribal yell rang out and Aveline quickly looked up in time to see Rocky leaping off the burning roof. Her eyes widened as Rocky twisted her body in the air. "He put a mind chip on her!"

"You're kidding-" She ducked to the side just in time to avoid getting slashed by Rocky's upgraded wrist cuff blades. Her heart shot into panic mode when the woman turned her angry glare onto her. Rocky had a small square chip in the middle of her forehead, forcing her to act accordingly. "Shit, and Wilbert?" Karla bowed her head and Steven laughed. Aveline quickly looked over her shoulder and growled. "Nothing better have happened to him!"

"He's in a coma," Steven replied. "I had no choice but to send him to one of Sviederbach's clinics for that reason, he serves no purpose to us. Car accidents, they can cause serious problems."

"Asshole!" Before she could do anything, Rocky was swinging her arm down upon her, with the sharp side of her triangular blade coming down upon her. Aveline yelped and moved her forearms in front of her face, pushing forward to throw Rocky's arm back. "Okay, this isn't right…"

"You're no good," Rocky growled under her breath. "You, your father, your family…I'll tear you all apart." If she didn't know Rocky was under mind control, those words would have damaged her right then and there. Steven folded his arms over and wagged his eyebrows.

"Mind control chips can be placed anywhere on the body, we just left hers on her forehead for you." Steven moved forward and narrowed his eyes as Aveline continued to duck from Rocky's punches. "My mother, my sister, they're dead now…I had to figure some way to take you out, for them. Then I realized, what better way to do it than to have your own bodyguard do the job for me?" Steven snapped his fingers and pointed to the house. "Rocky, be a dear and throw her into the fire."

"Took the words out of my mouth." Rocky laughed and reached out for Aveline. Aveline jumped back and stared with wide eyes at the woman, how the hell could she fight her? "Come on Aveline, you're only prolonging your demise." Rocky lifted her leg and leaned back, sweeping a roundhouse kick her way. Aveline jumped back once more and whined. Her eyes fell on the chip, she had to get it off, but there was no way for her to do so.

"Aveline!" Karla called out to her, struggling against the ropes on her wrist. "Shoot at me." She snapped her head towards Karla, raising an eyebrow while jumping back from yet another near-bloody slash.

"What?!"

"Just do it!"

"Fine." Aveline put an arrow to her bow and began running in an arc, with Rocky tailing behind her. Sweat ran down the side of her forehead as she aimed the arrow towards the back of Karla's cross marker. "Mr. Bransford, forgive me for defecating your relative's grave…" She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and released the string, letting the arrow strike just above Karla's hands. Steven's face twisted in terror as Karla jerked her wrists through the arrow, cutting through the rope.

"Finally!" She pulled her arms out and looked to Steven with a deadly smirk. She fell onto her hands, lifting her legs up through the air, twisted them around, and kicked them into Steven's chest. He screamed out and crashed against the wall of the house. "That's for the car and my brother." Karla then jumped up to her feet and narrowed her eyes. "Sorry for this, Momma…but I have to protect the family, even if it is against you…"

Aveline watched as Karla charged for her, then leapt forward. She swept her legs out beneath her and kicked into Rocky's back. The woman fell towards the ground and Karla landed a couple feet away, crouching and touching her right palm against the ground while watching Rocky rise to her feet. Rocky turned to her and scowled. "You'd strike down your own mother?"'

"I need to get that chip off you somehow, Mommy. Can't let you hurt Aveline. You raised me to protect them at all costs, so…"

"So be it." Rocky charged towards the girl and Karla sprang forward. She slid between Rocky's legs and hopped up, kicking out at Rocky's left leg.

Aveline took this opportunity to move towards Steven, who was sitting against the wall of the house, eyeing her nervously. "I would rather avoid having to take your life, Rocky will do that anyway most likely. So what's it going to be?" Aveline pulled another arrow from her quiver and aimed it at Steven's head. "Merciful kill, which you _don't_ deserve, or Rocky's way? Let me give you a tip, Rocky's way might consist of severe live dismemberment. I am in _no_ mood to stop her."

Steven had his hand inside his suit, and a smirk on his face. She raised an eyebrow and looked over as Astor started running around the building, his sword drawn and ready. A shot rang out and a burning sensation dug into her side. She clenched her teeth and put her hand to the burning sensation, releasing the arrow into Steven's chest. "Sister!" Astor screamed out and threw his sword back, unintentionally tossing it into Steven's neck.

Aveline started to fall back, her eyes went skyward and her vision started to fade. She felt someone's arms catch her. Rocky's voice came over her, calling for her to remain with her. So Karla finally won out, she was proud of the girl, strong enough to actually defeat her own mother. That girl was going to be one powerful force when she aged. She let out a soft moan and closed her eyes, feeling the warm blood cloaking her hands.

_"Damn it. The cheap asshole got me…" _The last thing she heard before slipping into unconsciousness was her brother crying out for her. _"Can't die here…I'm needed…"_

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the middle of someone's living room, with voices all around her. She waited for her vision to adjust, then was able to make note of Estelle's home. She started to sit up, but winced as a searing pain ran through her side. "Aveline!" Estelle ran over to her and put one hand on her back, and another on her abdomen. Aveline looked over at her, sweat was pouring from her body like rain. "Aveline you can't get up right now, you need to watch the wound. We cleaned it up and bandaged it for you."

"Your doctor?" René had a doctor who made house visits on occasion. Estelle nodded and put a hand to her forehead. "Where the hell am I?" She looked down and saw that she was laying upon a yellow blanket covering the dining table. "Are you serious, Estelle?"

"It wasn't such a bad wound, but you have to be careful. Too much and it'll open again."

"I don't care. I need to get my family."

"You just sit right there," Rocky said. Aveline looked over to see Rocky leaning up against a wall, her arms crossed. Karla was standing beside her, and Astor had run over to her side. Rocky pushed herself from the wall and lowered her arms. "Sorry about earlier…"

"It wasn't your fault Rocky, they had you on mind control."

"I know. It's pathetic." The woman scoffed and turned her eyes downwards. A deep sorrow had stretched over her. "Rolf was killed. I should have done something, I should have _insisted-_"

"There wasn't anything you could do." Aveline started to move off the table, ignoring Estelle's protests. She couldn't stand not moving, even if she needed to be on bed rest. "Did Estelle explain everything to you guys?"

"Yeah. Sucks I can't join you, otherwise we risk losing everyone else…" Aveline nodded her head and let her eyes fall towards the collar around Rocky's neck. Rocky smirked slightly and tapped the side of the collar. "Dealt with."

"Good. How long have I been out? We may not have much time left!"

"Oh you have time. It's _still _my job to protect you, even if that means protecting you from yourself." Rocky grabbed her shirt and began dragging her towards one of the bedrooms. Astor and Estelle followed after. She groaned as the woman led her into the room and set her down on the bed. "I'll give you an update. After you passed out there, Astor pulled out that teleportation device and got us here. You were operated on and have been out for five hours. The clue to the next person gives you a mandatory rest of a full day, so you have until noon tomorrow before you can even look."

"Oh come on!"

"It's a good thing anyway, because I don't want that wound breaking open. If you're the only one that can get your family back here _safe_, then that means you need to pay attention to your own damn wounds! Do not overdo it!" Aveline slowly nodded her head and Astor quickly hugged her. She put one arm around him and smiled, she never felt so happy to have him there with her, and to be alive.

"Okay…so what's the clue?" Rocky handed her a slip of paper and Aveline held it tentatively between her fingers, reading slowly. "Our scene was here where we hung, inside and out. My first job, and also the fifty dollars that led to my first date that would jumpstart my family." She raised an eyebrow and slowly shook her head. "I don't get this one, but maybe that's just cause I'm not fully awake yet."

"It's my brother." Rocky folded her arms over and Aveline's mouth fell open. Rocky pointed to the paper and sighed. "Ty, Cece, Gunther, Tinka, Dina, all of us hung out at Crusty's, where Deuce's uncle worked. He owned the shop. It was also right outside of our apartment complex. Ty got his first job there, Gunther also asked Ty to date Tinka there."

"Oh…so Ty, Tinka, and August might be there?"

"Yeah. Now get your rest." Rocky turned around and left the room, sighing heavily. Aveline fell back onto the bed and groaned as her pain stabbed her in the side once more. Rest she could use, she wouldn't enjoy it, but it was for the best. Tomorrow, she would be getting Ty and his family. Under no circumstances could she fail.

Although, if it _was_ Crusty's, chances were she wouldn't have to be the one saving Ty. If the Lamont family wasn't careful, they'd be running into a certain Mafia family that would do the job for her, and Martin couldn't do a damn thing about it.

* * *

An intense chapter, and for those of you wondering about Deuce, I _promise_ you're about to see him soon. What are your observations of this chapter though?


	19. We Own Chicago

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 19 (We Own Chicago)

"Really not interested in going to work today." A man with a black suit and red dress shirt stood still as his wife inspected his suit for strings. He smoothed his hand through his coarse brown hair and turned his mustache up with a smile. He admired his beautiful brown haired wife and shook his head. "I think the suit's clean dear." He had to check in on his work, then go deal with the family business. He'd seen the global news, and was deeply troubled by the situation his friends had been caught up in.

Just the prior night, they had Aveline's camera showing one of the notes, and it became clear to him that his best friend was likely being held at or around Crusty's. However before he could take offensive action, he still had to go to the restaurant and do some work. He now owned the shop, and checked in each morning to watch how his employees were handling their jobs. When working for the big boss, or in his case, the grand Don, they knew better than to slack off.

Chicago knew his name, they were well aware that one did not mess with Don Martino 'Deuce' Martinez. He was more known and deadlier than old Don Rio Garcia had been, and also took over ownership of the Atrium Mall when he retired. When Deuce married Dina, it was more than just a union of two lovers, but a union of two families. Both of the fathers stepped down and let Deuce head the entire mafia family. He got the job done, and he didn't always follow the 'rules'. He took care of people at the same time, thus the police never bothered with him or his ways. It was more of a 'scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours' method.

Dina was his most trusted assistant and partner, and she often gave orders out for him. He straightened his tie and breathed in slowly. "Dina, are our fathers and Uncle Frank prepared for today?" Dina nodded and looked towards the window.

"Yes. Our families are all prepped and more than ready. They'll have the entire block closed off by eleven. Nobody will come in or leave that radius without us knowing." Deuce's lip curved into a smirk and he quickly nodded his head.

"Good. Some days it pays to have police help." The truth of the matter was, he had several relatives on the police force, including his older brother that Cece's mother had saved in the bank all those years before. That brother was now Chicago's Chief of Police. Many of the higher police officers were members of Deuce's or Dina's family, as were several members of City Hall. The mayor was a close cousin of Dina's. Together, they _owned_ Chicago Illinois. Nothing went down without them knowing it. "Someone messed with the Hessenheffers and the Blues, now they're going to pay handsomely."

Within the hour, Deuce was at Crusty's and wiping down the front counter while inspecting his employees. His lips were still tucked into a smirk as they all eyed him with knowing glances, they knew well what was going down today. The door opened and an elder man with balding, thin hair, came rushing in. "Uncle Frank, what's the news?"

"Our men weaved about, we've located Ty Blue, along with his wife and son. It looks like the one that has him is Auda Lamont, seems she was smarter than we gave her credit for…" He raised an eyebrow and moved his hand in a circular motion for his Uncle to continue. Frank breathed in slowly and folded his arms across his chest. "It seems the Lamont family has more relatives than just the ones who've abducted the Royal Family. She's got a bunch of cousins with her, they're all holed up in the apartment building…the tenants have locked themselves in their apartments."

"Okay that's good, we don't need any civilian blood."

"Right. Well, Auda is on the roof with Ty's family. It would appear the Lamont's aren't actually expecting us, they're expecting Aveline." He rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes. This was good, they could leave Aveline a present in the form of her own uncle. "You want me to take over the shift here? Old Rio Garcia's just outside, and we've begun closing off the block."

"Right…" He reached below the counter and grabbed a long shotgun that was latched underneath. Once he pulled it off and cocked it, his employees sprang to action, grinning and pulling out their various handguns and automated weapons. "I want this to be as clean as possible. No unnecessary kills, no civilian kills. As we know, nobody gets in this radius and no one leaves until we've secured the area. You hold down Crusty's. Mr. Garcia knows to remain outside with his people. I will enter the apartment building myself."

Deuce listened to Dina's voice on the radio in his ear plug, she was giving orders to the family in tune to what he was saying. He was most proud, and lucky to have such a devoted wife. He wouldn't be where he was now if not for her.

After several minutes of prep, Deuce was ready to enter the apartment building. He kicked open the front doors and narrowed his eyes, glancing around at the empty front lobby. The front desk, to the right, was consistent of simply an open window within a wall that faced him. Usually there was a receptionist there to greet people, but instead, there was a phone that was continually ringing.

He saw a hand move into view, touching the reject button on the phone. He grinned and moved over to the desk, leaning over with his gun and pointing it towards a man with a handgun. "Hello there sir, can I help you?" Deuce asked in a callous tone. The man looked up with wide eyes as Deuce shoved the gun into his face. "You don't work here. I'll give you to the count of three to leave the building. You'll run into some of my men, they will not kill you unless you attack. Got it?"

"Okay, okay, just don't shoot!" The man bolted out the door and ran for the front, stopping momentarily and screaming at the top of his lungs. "We're under attack!"

"Shit!" Deuce put his hand to the desk and flipped onto the other side. He crouched below as several footsteps were heard descending the stairway. "Shit, shit, shit!" He moved his hand into his suit and pulled out a small pen-shaped device, undid the top cap, and pressed down on a red button. Within seconds, he chucked it over his shoulder and out into the lobby, where smoke erupted from the device. The soldiers screamed out in terror and began spraying bullets in every direction. Deuce looked up as a stray bullet flew over his head and struck the wall in front of him. "Damn, that was close."

Minutes later, the gunfire had stopped. He listened for the sound of footsteps, or any other noises whatsoever, but nothing came. He put his finger to the earpiece and ordered someone to open up the doors and front windows of the lobby. When he did this, light fell into the area and the smoke started to clear away, leaving behind the smell of blood. "Did they shoot each other up out there?" He carefully poked his head into view, and gasped at the numerous bodies on the floor. "Well then…we're not dealing with professionals it seems."

He hurried out into the lobby and ran for the elevator, he knew better than to ride it all the way to the top, since people might be waiting for him there. He entered and struck the floor that Rocky's family had lived on. When the doors closed, a peaceful jazz tune played to relax his nerves. He smiled, tapping his foot, and adjusting his suit. When the elevator stopped and opened back up, the action was back on.

He carefully exited into the hallway, pressed his back against the wall, and slid across to the first corner. He poked his head into view and smirked at the door about twenty feet away. Directly in the middle were two gun wielding men, cracking some random joke about a goat, a bar, and a grandma. He raised an eyebrow and scratched the back of his head. _"Okay, that's Rocky's mom's home, and I need to get into that apartment…" _He stepped into view and held his shotgun behind him. "Hello boys. Funny joke, there…"

The two looked over, astonished at him. "Hey! It's Don Martinez! Wait a minute…"

"I believe you have some friends of mine. I'm looking to retrieve them."

"Shit! Kill him!" His smirk deepened as the men aimed their pistols at him. With lightning swift reflexes, Deuce pulled his shotgun forward and fired off two shots, striking the man on the right in the chest, and slicing into the head of the other man. Their bodies collapsed to the ground, and the man with the chest wound started gasping for air. "I-I can't breathe! Help me!"

"Sorry. I would, but I have some family business to attend to." He stepped over the man and twitched his shotgun back, firing off one shot into the man's head, giving him a swift end as opposed to a slow and painful death. He wasted no time in opening Mrs. Blue's apartment door. The woman was on the couch, watching with wide eyes as he made his way towards the fire escape. "Sorry about that Mrs. Blue, I hope all is well. I need to use your fire escape. Just like old times, right?"

"I-I-Okay…what's going on?"

"Nothing to worry about." He smiled innocently, then climbed out the back window. He didn't have the heart to tell her that her son's life was in grave danger, along with her grandson.

Once on the escape, he slowly made his way up the long steel ladders to the roof. When he poked his head up, he grinned at the sight. Ty, Tinka, and August were tied in the middle of the rooftop, with Ty glaring angrily at Auda, who was standing with her back turned, and gazing off the edge of the building. She was in perfect position for him to simply push her off. There were four people standing at the elevator doors, with their guns trained on it.

_"Just as I thought…they expect me to use the elevator…dumbasses."_

His goal was not these people, but Auda. She crossed the wrong family, and it was almost a pity to think that she would have to be executed for it. He pulled himself onto the roof and ran behind a vent, crouching very low. He peered out and saw Ty watching him very closely, with a frightened gaze. The four men were just a few paces to the right of Auda, so typically Deuce likely couldn't simply go up to her and push her off without getting attacked by the men.

Rather, he had another course of action in mind. She was so close to the edge, that just about anything could knock her off, sending her hurtling fifty stories into the pavement below. He carefully removed his shoes, tied the laces together, and silently rose to his feet. He began swinging his shoes above his head like a lasso, then removed them and watched the pair fly towards Auda.

The woman started to turn around, gasping in shock as the shoes struck her chest and bounced back onto the rooftop. She began swaying her arms in the air, trying to regain balance as her body leaned backwards. He crouched back down just as the four men started running towards Auda. They were too late, as her scream echoed down the building, ending with a sickening thud below. He smirked and snapped his fingers. "It was just an accident, she lost her footing, and fell."

"Auda!" The men screamed. "No!"

"Such a shame!" He rose up, aiming the shotgun at the men. They turned to him, frightened. He narrowed his eyes and curled his lips into a smirk. "You were expecting Aveline Hessenheffer, were you? Not expecting the mafia? Looks like your leader's down."

"You did this!" Exclaimed the heavy set man with a grizzly face. Deuce rolled his eyes and tilted his head to the side.

"I thought we established this. Maybe not. Anyway, I'm Don Martinez, and you know what?" He sidestepped and slowly walked towards them, narrowing his eyes as he kept his shotgun trained upon them. Ty, Tinka, and August all eyed him helplessly as the four men began to sweat. "_I_ own Chicago, you're in _my_ city, and you've messed with some very close friends of mine. I've devoted my life and friendship to these people. In fact, the Queen saved the life of one of my relatives, so I guess that makes me indebted. I don't know your beef with the royal family, but something to remember when you abduct powerful people." Done talking, he cracked his neck from side to side and tossed the shotgun on the ground. He reached into his fest and smirked. "Powerful people may have some extremely powerful friends."

Without warning, he pulled a small machinegun from his inside holster and let out a triumphant exclamation as he sprayed his bullets over the four enemies. The men screamed in pain, trying to jump out of the way. Three collapsed on the ground, dead, and one had fallen off the edge of the building in his attempt at escape.

He walked over to the edge and narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the two bodies sprawled on the ground below. "You do not_ mess_ with Don Martinez, and if you're going to play ball in Chicago, you had better come prepared…" When he turned around, he saw Uncle Frank and Rio Garcia running out of the elevator with Dina. "It is finished…"

He made haste in untying Ty and his family. August was the first to say anything at all, as Ty and Tinka were having some difficulty processing what had just occurred. "That…was…_awesome!"_ August exclaimed.

"Yes," Ty replied, giving Deuce a quick hug. "Thank you so much. I knew you took up your family's business, but damn…" Deuce rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling nervously. After a few seconds, his eyes moved to the collars, which he instantly recognized. They had used similar devices. He snapped his fingers and Dina came rushing over.

"Recognize those?" Dina stared at the collars and quickly nodded her head.

"Yes, should we neutralize them?" Dina asked. "They're definitely active." Ty's gaze moved downward and Tinka's hand lifted up to hers.

"I'm a little frightened," she remarked, "I don't want these to explode. It was supposed to be Aveline, I think…"

"Right, we'll have to hold you guys here until she can arrive. Until then, I do know how to remove those things…the mafias have used them before. So let's get to work, everything will be fine." He was thrilled to see them, and thrilled that they were _safe_. He couldn't fathom what would happen if he lost any of his best friends. "Aveline may be in for a surprise, I doubt she expected the mafia to do this, but the moment I learned you guys were here…I had to."

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Well, let me hear your thoughts, what did you think of this chapter? Pretty good to see Deuce after all those years. **  
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	20. Elation and Suspicion

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N: IMPORTANCE-I was informed that various people are using Sviederbach as the country for Gunther and Tinka. I want you to know that 1) Sviederbach is NOT canon, but a country completely made up by _me_, so if you want to use it, I'd like to be informed. 2) If you _do_ use it, try to remember the laws within Sviederbach, if you need refreshers, I'll be more than happy to provide. It may be just that much easier to make up your own country for them though XD. Enjoy the chapter!

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Chapter 20 (Elation and Suspicion)

Aveline stepped out of the shower, slouching and irritable. Aside from getting cleaned up by Estelle yesterday, this was the first time she attempted a shower. She had been far too nervous to attempt it before, and actually had gone so far as to signal Martin on the collar beforehand and ask about the cameras. He replied that he did not always watch the camera, and would likely turn hers off if she took a shower or undressed. It was good to know he had _some_ amount of decency.

She could tell when he was being honest, due to the fact that the camera on her collar had a tiny light that was lit whenever it was on. During the shower, it was off, and she'd noticed it off at other times as well. "Can't help but wonder what he's doing when he's not looking…"

Aveline grabbed a towel from the shower rod and began to pat herself down and get dressed. It didn't take long, as she didn't want the camera turning on while she was still naked. After all, it was more than just Martin that had access to seeing what was on camera, it was the entire world, and she did _not_ need people seeing what a naked princess looked like. She lifted her eyes towards the sky and curled a smirk. "Oh the scandals to be had there…" She looked down to her side and slowly lifted her shirt, gazing at the bandage wrapped around her stomach. _"So close…"_

There was no time to mourn over that, Ty and his family needed to be rescued. Aveline made her way outside and walked towards the kitchen table where everyone was eating their breakfast. Astor looked up from his eggs and hash browns with a smile. "Hey sis, want some breakfast before we leave? There's a couple extra pancakes." She put her hand to her stomach and quickly nodded.

"That'd be great. I'm kind of hungry." As difficult as it was to eat in a situation like this, she couldn't turn down food on an empty stomach. She moved to the table and took a seat beside Astor. Estelle and Madeline had gone to the garden before the shower, so they were likely still out there. René was at the stove, cleaning everything up. Karla, Mia, and Michael were also at the table, while Kuno was sitting on the floor beside them, playing with one of his toys. "Where's Rocky at?"

Karla set her fork down and glanced up at her, "Mom went back to bed. Are you sure mom and I can't help you out?" She frowned at the girl and quickly nodded. This was something she could not risk, not with Martin placing such strict rules upon them.

"You guys aren't _allowed_ to help. Maybe if it were an outside, unrelated source, but you guys can't do anything…it's too risky…" She admired Karla's determination, but she still did not want to risk any of her family's life. "Besides, I don't want to put anyone else through some of the dangers we're dealing with, it's bad enough my little brother has to tag along with me." She felt Astor kick her leg and winced slightly. She flashed a smirk at him and rubbed her hand on his head. "Love you too, bro."

"That was _not_ a love tap, sis."

"Oh I know that." She laughed heartily and put one arm around her brother, hugging him close. It was great having him here to help keep her spirits up. "You ready to go get Uncle Ty and Aunt Tinka?"

"Yep. Kind of scared though…but I think it'll be okay. Not sure how, but it's a feeling I have."

"Yeah, we'll see."

After the breakfast, Aveline and Astor used their teleportation device to get as close to Crusty's as they could. They were startled by the number of men in suits that were lining the streets. Aveline searched the many men with her eyes and slowly stepped back, anxiously wondering if these men were part of a trap. "Astor, when I give the word, run…"

"I was thinking the same thing, sis."

"There she is!" A voice cried out. She yelped and turned around to see several men looking her way. "Aveline Hessenheffer, our boss is expecting you." She started to reach for her arrow, uncertain if she would need to attack. Arrows versus bullets probably wouldn't go over too well, though. The man waved his hands in the air and flashed a smile. "Relax, we're just with the mafia, Mr. Martinez wants to see you."

"Mister…Deuce?" She didn't actually expect him to do this, and as pleasant of a surprise as it was, it was nauseating. She glanced to her right and lifted her eyebrows. In front of the apartment building were two crumpled bodies, both highly unrecognizable. "What the…" The man pointed his hand at the bodies and cleared his throat.

"That would be Auda Lamont and one of her relatives. They had this entire place rigged. Our boss went in and made it all the way to the rooftop, they're waiting for you up there. Can you come with me?"

"I…guess…" She felt her stomach reeling with disgust the longer she stared at Auda's body. Astor looked away, gagging. "So he took out Auda? Is Uncle Ty safe?"

"Yes, he rescued your Aunt and Uncle, your cousin as well." Aveline looked down to Astor and shrugged her shoulders. Astor furrowed his brow and held his stomach. "Come with us, Miss Hessenheffer. We'll take you to your family." Less work for her at least, though she wasn't too sure she would have taken Auda out in such a way. It didn't seem avoidable. She was beginning to believe Martin knew what he was doing. After all, he stationed his relatives in some pretty bad areas, and with captives that could easily get them killed. For instance, Rocky and Karla with Steven, Auda here in Chicago, it was all too easy.

The siblings followed the man to the rooftop where Deuce was waiting with Dina, Uncle Frank, and Mr. Garcia. When she saw Ty, Tinka, and August standing with them, tears sprang from her eyes. "Uncle Ty, Aunt Tinka, you're really safe!" She was elated, and astonished to see they actually had their collars completely removed from their necks! Without thinking, she ran for the two and hugged them close. They let out a grunt and moved their arms around her. "I can't believe it…" She looked over to Deuce with a tiny smile. "You did this?"

"Yeah, I heard they were here, so I knew I had to act." Deuce folded his arms over and flashed a smirk. "I know you can handle the rest, but I couldn't let you hog all the fun." She looked over her shoulder to Astor, who casually made his way over, possibly still stunned that they didn't have to do any fighting. He and August shared a quick high-five, and August began his rant.

"You should have seen it!" August threw his hands up into the air from the pure excitement, laughing gaily. "Deuce snuck up here and moved behind one of those vent things over there…" He pointed towards an air vent on the roof. Deuce moved his hand behind his neck and exhaled. "He got up, threw a shoe at the woman who had us, then shot the other bad guys up here. It was so amazing!" His parents exchanged nervous glances. Aveline wiped her eyes and looked to the three bodies on the rooftop. She still didn't know exactly how to react to what occurred here, but part of her didn't care. She looked over to Deuce, thanking him.

"You removed their collars?" Deuce picked up one of the collars from the ground, sighing softly.

"Sure, we recognized these things as something the mafia uses, so we knew how to neutralize and remove them. Funny thing, the explosive part of it wasn't completely activated." Aveline raised an eyebrow and let her lips fall into a flat line as her eyelids fell into narrow slits.

"What was that?" She rubbed her ear and looked over to Astor, who shrugged his shoulders.

"They can still be activated from a remote point," Dina started, "But they haven't been programmed to explode yet. So Martin would have to press two buttons on someone, one to actually activate the explosive, and another to set it off." What was Martin doing then, if the collars weren't set to explode? He wanted _something_, didn't he? He wanted to kill the royal family, surely. Whatever it was, she could think about it later. She still needed to get Ty and his family back home.

"Okay, I'm just glad they're safe. We need to get them home, thank you so much for saving them." She didn't want to know how bloody it was inside the building, but if she had to guess, she was almost certain it was a mess. She looked up to Ty, he had a worried expression on his face, possibly curious about Rocky's whereabouts. "Uncle Ty, I want you to know Rocky's safe, so is Karla."

"What about Wilbert?"

"He's…" She tensed her fist and narrowed her eyes. "He's in the hospital. That car accident Rocky had put him in a coma." Tinka gasped and Ty started to pale. "Uncle Rolf is…he's been killed…"

"Oh my god! Then I need to see my sister. Now!" Deuce handed her the three collars. She took them and hoisted them over her shoulder.

"Examine those, all right?" Deuce stated. He pat her back and smiled at her. "You can do it Aveline, we all believe in you."

"Yeah…then why doesn't it feel like that?"

"It's a lot of weight on your shoulders. Knowing your family's life is in your hands, it's one of those 'no pressure' moments." He smirked and Aveline rolled her eyes. "Now get going, I need to get my people back to their jobs."

"Right."

When they made it back to Estelle's, Aveline pressed the radio button on her collar and scowled. "Martin, we need to talk." She stepped onto the patio and narrowed her eyes. "You don't have these collars rigged to blow?" Martin's voice came over the radio, calm and collected.

"I can easily activate them anytime I want. Consider it a safety lock, in case I get pissed and throw the remote across the room…the collars won't accidentally explode." Aveline rolled her eyes and growled, malice dripped from her voice as the desire to kill him coursed once more through her veins. "Don't worry Aveline, I do know what I'm doing."

"Why do I feel like you're up to something…" Wasn't this how it was for her parents when dealing with Frankie in the old days? "If you're sneaking around…"

"Oh relax. By the way! I forgot to mention something." She moved her eyes towards Aunt Madeline's garden and leaned back against the wall, watching her Aunt pick away the tomatoes. "You know that little teleporter you have?"

"What of it?"

"I have one too. How do you think my relatives got everywhere? Oh, and just a little something extra for you to chew on…all of this, Aveline? This was actually my father's idea. He forced it. Shoved it down my throat, if you will, but that's my family for you."

"Oh, is that why you're always so angry?"

"Enjoy your next search Aveline. I guarantee it won't be as easy as your Uncle was…you got lucky there. As promised, I'm not a cheap shot, so I won't penalize you for what the mafia did, that was my mother's mistake." He sounded so cold when he spoke of her. His tone sent a chill down her spine. What was it his mother had done to him to make him speak of her with such malice? The father as well. "Goodbye and good luck, _Princess_."

The feed ended and Aveline let out an angry shout, kicking the patio chair. Madeline looked over suddenly and put her hands to her hips. "Sorry Aunt Madeline." She picked up the chair and moved back into the house. When she sat on the couch, she leaned forward and glared at the television set in front of her. The next clue weighed heavily on her mind as she attempted to decipher it. However, she was also distracted by Martin's words, and felt like there was something more to what he was saying. _"I have to wait three hours to do anything, anyway…"_

The clue was obviously her grandparents, but the only problem was, it stated opposite of the butcher shop. _We met at the butcher, but our fate rests in the very first home we had in America, filled with so many memories. We had to move due to an infection of mold within the walls. After three hours, you have only five hours to find us._ She had no idea where the first home they lived in was, but it was likely in Chicago. Someone that might know would be one of her Uncles, so she'd have to start out there. She closed her eyes and tapped her fingertips against each other, then rested them on the bridge of her nose.

"Mark my words, Martin. The next I see you, it's not going to be pretty."

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Tell me what you thought, what are your thoughts on Martin here? Something's definitely up, perhaps nothing _bad_.


	21. Sensing Danger

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

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Chapter 21 (Sensing Danger)

Aveline stared at the silver jumpsuit in the closet, it was a skintight suit that was highly resistant to tear and bullets. It was a very futuristic suit. Surely, it would protect her from certain harm. She moved her hand over her bandaged wound on her side, wincing as her touch signaled the pain through her body. She whimpered and drew her hand away, scowling at the wound. It burned more than the scratch from the wolf. It was healing though, which was a good thing.

She didn't have any further scars on her body that she could see, so that was something of a calming aspect for her. What would Ander think, though, if she wound up with terrible scars? Frustration sparked in her eyes, fighting with her sorrow and anger for dominance. She couldn't lose him, she just couldn't. After everything she was going through, he was the only man she trusted with her life. She couldn't afford to let Martin take him from her!

The suit was a nice fit for her form, and it didn't hurt the wounds when she put it on. It was sleek and comfortable, as well as durable. She had Estelle zip it up along her back, then went to grab some clothes for travel. "So you're going for your grandparents, right?" Estelle asked. Aveline nodded and grabbed a red dress, wasting no time putting it on.

"I hope they're okay." Grandpa Kashlack could handle himself very well, so she wasn't too worried in regards to whether he would be okay. It was her grandma she was concerned about, the woman may be tough, but she was a bit fragile at the same time. "Martin's going to wish he never touched my family. I don't care what the bastard's up to, he's going to regret ever bit of this, I _promise_ you."

She stared at herself in the bedroom mirror and inspected her dress, twisting around to look at the bottom frills. Why had she decided to put _this_ on? It wasn't a travel dress, it was a damn ball dress, but nothing else looked good enough. Plus, she had a sinking suspicion that she should dress heavily. She didn't know why that was, but she learned to start following her gut. Even Estelle was smirking at her, laughing. "Still don't know why you want to go out there in that." Aveline narrowed her eyes and lifted her shoulders.

"I'm calling it a hunch." She could still move freely. She grabbed her quiver and bow from beside the bed and strapped it around her back. "I miss Ander still, Estelle…my mom and dad too…" Estelle reached forward and put her hand to her shoulder, comforting her with a smile. "If I don't make it, could you look out for my brothers and sister?"

"I won't have to Aveline, you're going to be just fine."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." She hugged Estelle. A warmth descended upon her chest, and her cheeks began to glow, lighting her eyes with determination. Estelle was right, there was no sense in getting down. She could do this! She just needed to look after Astor, make sure nothing bad happened to him, and make sure she stayed alive long enough to save her family. "I guess it's time to try and figure out where Grandma and Grandpa lived before moving to their apartment…" This wasn't going to be easy without being able to talk to them. To make matters worse, they couldn't finger through their bedroom because she was certain Martin might have vicious attack dogs, so to speak, waiting at the castle.

Thirty minutes of pondering led Astor and Aveline to Rocky's office once again, as Rocky suggested that it could be in the records where their home had been. It was another twenty minutes of searching before they even found any indicator of location, but evidently they lived off Hershey Avenue somewhere on the outskirts of Chicago. The thought had crossed her mind over whether or not this was certain, so she wanted to take a second opinion, and decided to contact Kashlack's brother, Hennick.

When she picked up the phone, Astor gave her a dirty look, "Why couldn't you have done that first?" She smiled nervously and lifted her shoulders.

"I just wanted to look." She turned her back to him and waited for her grand uncle to respond. The truth of the matter was, she was stalling, and felt ashamed of the fact. She had a growing pit in her stomach, urging her not to go, or to break the rules and have Rocky go with her, but she _still_ didn't want to take that risk. "Besides, we still have plenty of time…"

Aveline glanced over her shoulder to see her brother glaring at her, his arms crossed over his chest, and his foot tapping impatiently on the ground. Her slight distraction in focus was broken when she heard an elderly voice over the phone asking how he could help her. "Hey, Granduncle Hennick, it's Aveline. I have a question. When Mom and Dad first arrived in the US, do you remember where their first house was? I know they moved out due to mold, so…do you remember?"

"Their first home? Well let's see…that was a long time ago…" The man hummed. Aveline heard footsteps and listened to the wheels of a chair sliding out, followed by a drawer opening up. Hennick often kept everything in his study at the house, and he kept records from well over sixty years ago. Granted he was seventy one now, the oldest thing he had was a baseball card. Hennick sounded tired and stressed, which she understood well. "Let's see here, if I still have that letter from your grandmother…see your grandfather was busy finding work at the time, so your grandmother was the one who kept all the relatives informed…"

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"Yes…" She moved her eyes towards Astor and smiled at him, he still looked impatient and irritable. Finally the sound of papers shuffling ended with Hennick letting out a cheerful gasp. "I found the letter. It says here, they moved to a small home on 1201 Hershey Avenue, out in the country due to Squitza's anxiety over being in a newer town with a bunch of people. The children are 'getting along well' and Kashlack was struggling to find work to support them. The house had a funny smell to it…"

"That's the place? Thank you Uncle!"

"You're welcome, hurry and find them dear."

"I will." She hung up the phone and looked back to Astor with a toothy grin. "Are you ready to go see Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Yes, and don't talk to me like I'm a kid…let's just get this done…" She watched him grab the teleportation device from her pack and begin studying it. Her heart began to sink as she lowered her phone into the pack, still hanging from her shoulder. She'd not realized that Astor was going through hell too, or she knew it, but she didn't know just how much this was affecting him. A lot of what she felt, he was feeling too. She knelt to his level and met his baggy eyes, and slowly hugged him.

"It'll be okay Astor, we can do it. I wasn't trying to talk down to you, I know you're going through a lot, but if we stick together, we'll get through it. Okay? We just need to relax and get through all of this…we can't lose as long as we work together. You're growing, and I'm proud of you, cause you're my little brother. Like mom and Uncle Flynn needed each other, we need each other, and I won't soon forget that." He smiled and she quickly put in the address for the teleporter to find.

"Now why did you have to go and get all mushy, sis?" Aveline laughed at the blush arriving on Astor's face. The device activated and Aveline tightened her hug on her brother. He hugged her back and exhaled. "I love you sis-sis, and let's just forget that I used that old nickname…"

She closed her eyes, smirking deviously. "Okay Ast-y, we'll forget it."

"Hey!"

"Love you too."

The device put them a full block away from the address, confusing the two at first, until they found an address sign. "1100 Hershey avenue…" Aveline tapped her chin and looked towards the right, 1102 was in that direction, while 1098 was to her left. "Okay Astor, I say we take the right path."

"All right." As they began walking, a sudden jolt shot through her body, forcing her to stop and stare down the path with an irrational fear. Astor continued to walk several feet before stopping and looking back at her. "What's wrong?" What lay ahead were several abandoned homes, all shaded by overgrown trees and grass. It was quite early in the morning, but the path ahead looked dark and rather creepy. This wasn't something that would _ever_ stop her, but for some reason, she didn't want to continue. Her heart rate was increasing and her palms were filling up with sweat. Astor turned fully towards her and tilted his head. "Aveline, come on, we need to get moving."

"Right, we do." She shook away her fear and pressed onward with the determination and knowledge that Astor and her grandparents were depending on her. She balled her fists up and narrowed her eyes, flaring her nostrils in and out to try breathing. She needed to calm down and quell whatever anxiety was beginning to threaten her sanity. "Astor, draw your sword."

"Why?"

"Something tells me we're going to need to be prepared. Something worse than traps…" She heard Martin's voice come over the radio, stating that there were no traps that lay ahead for this task, he didn't believe traps were needed here. It was a straight shot to her grandparents, and he believed only that she would find them with his grandfather. She didn't _want_ to make the effort to trust him, however, one thing Martin seemed not to be was a liar. "I'm still going to prepare just in case." She pulled her bow and an arrow from her quiver, glaring anxiously from side to side.

"Aveline, do you want to sit this one out?"Astor asked curiously. "It's just Martin's grandfather, so…I can go get grandma and grandpa." She shook her head and brushed him off, pressing on ahead of him. She ignored his concerned gaze and glared at a dusty brown home in the distance. It was old, looked like it could crumble into dust with the slightest touch of a finger. "Ave? Slow down, take a breath."

"No damn it, I'm going to get Grandma and Grandpa. I have to."

"Sis…I'm worried about you, you're acting different. I can tell something's bothering you, so what is it?"

"Nothing."

"Aveline, we're a team. If you're scared or something, I need to know…" She couldn't afford to fear anything, not when Astor relied on her. If she was frightened of the unknown, then what would that mean for him?

Martin's voice came over the radio once more, he sounded like he was watching something. "Hey, if you need an extension to calm your nerves, I'll be happy to give it. I'm in the middle of my westerns, so I wouldn't mind not flipping back and forth between them." She raised an eyebrow and stopped walking, unable to find words to react. She heard gunfire from a television set and slowly looked to Astor. Martin cleared his throat. "Yes, I have an obsession with westerns, sue me. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood are still legends, can you believe they still air their movies? It's amazing! Anyway, do you need an extension to calm down? You don't need to be so nervous this time. I'm not worried about your grandparents, so I haven't put anything out for you here. Other than my grandpa, all you have to do is go in and get your grandparents, then leave."

"I'm fine Martin. I don't need help, and I most certainly do not need it from _you_."

"Suit yourself."

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Your thoughts?


	22. Moment of Panic

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

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Chapter 22 (Moment of Panic)

Upon arrival inside the house, they were overcome by a nauseating feeling. Aveline put her hand to her mouth, coughing at the odor attacking her nostrils. She quickly looked to Astor, who continued to press ahead towards the back door. "They're all elders," he began, "They wouldn't be inside here…"

"Good point." The back of the house was fenced off, so the only way in was really through the home. She couldn't believe this neighborhood had been forgotten by the city all these years! Then again, it shouldn't surprise her, there were many cities like this in the United States. She fought against the urge to collapse from the nausea and made her way out the back, taking a breath of fresh air once outside.

At the far corner of the yard were Kashlack and Squitza, tied to chairs with a gag in their mouths. Standing before them was a tall elderly man with a dangerous smirk. "You've arrived Princess Aveline," Henry spoke. "How are you?"

"Pissed." She began walking forward, stopping in the middle of the yard. Astor remained a few paces behind her, looking around the area. She felt a darker presence at work, but wasn't sure what it was, especially since Henry didn't seem all that dangerous. "What the hell is up with your grandson, he seems suspicious." Henry raised an eyebrow and lifted his shoulder. "He said something about his dad wanting all of this shit."

"Martin is just doing what our family has been trying to do for generations. Sure, his family's behind all of this, Martin wouldn't have had the guts to do this on his own. I don't think he wanted it as badly, but that isn't important. What is important is…" Aveline watched the man point his handgun towards Squitza's head. Kashlack let out a muffled, angry shout and Aveline's heart rate increased all the higher. She started to lunge, but froze in spot when Henry's dangerous glare fell into her eyes. "If you move, your grandmother goes first."

"Don't you dare hurt my Grandma!"

"Would you prefer your grandfather, then?"

"I'd prefer you put down your weapon…" Henry moved his gun away and started laughing maliciously for several seconds. After a minute, he suddenly clutched his chest, his eyes went wide and his mouth opened, shuddering as though he were gasping for air. Aveline's jaw fell and Astor winced, nature was beating her to the punch! "Mr. Lamont? Astor, I think he's having a heart attack!"

No response.

"Astor?" She watched Henry collapse to the ground, then looked back towards her brother before running over to Henry's body. Unfortunately her brother was now unconscious on the ground. Her heart stopped and her eyes quickly scanned his body for his sword, which was missing. "Astor!" She knelt beside him and put her hand to his back, shaking him. "Wake up! Come on!"

Her grandparents began screaming out, causing her to lift her gaze from Astor and towards the back doorway. Her eyes widened when she saw a sandy-haired, well built man holding onto Astor's sword. She started to growl and quickly rose to her feet, narrowing her eyes. _No traps indeed_. Who was this man, and why did he knock out her little brother? "So we finally meet the princess…pity, Gramps never had a good heart. Let me introduce myself, I'm Brad Lamont. You _killed_ my mother."

"What?" Crap, Martin had another relative out here? "So Martin stationed you out here, did he? A trick?"

"No. Actually our cousin doesn't know we're out here." She raised an eyebrow and heard the ruffling of leaves to both her right and left. She looked towards her right and saw a young woman around her age with long black hair and puffy red lips curled into a deadly smirk. To her left was a man, also her age, he had shaggy blonde hair covering up his eyes. She was outnumbered! Archery didn't help in close quarters, but she would have to do her best to take them out. "These would be my other cousins, Rebecca and David. They're siblings, children of Uncle Maxwell and Aunt Heather. We're going to enjoy beating you senseless, then we're going to take our turns tearing apart your soul, and leave you for dead in this moldy home. Sound good?" Her eyes widened for a second before shifting into an angry expression.

"I don't think so." She lifted her bow and arrow, aiming towards Brad. She fired it off, striking him in his shoulder. Mentally, she cursed herself, her aim was off due to her levels of stress and shot nerves. She couldn't show any weakness, however. "You don't stand a chance." Brad stumbled back for a second, bowing his head and laughing as he reached up for the shoulder. She lowered her bow and watched him tear the arrow out of his body.

"Au Contraire, _Princess_. _You_ don't stand a chance in hell." She growled and reached back for another arrow, pausing as both Rebecca and David started their slow walk towards her. She needed to get into a more open area, otherwise she really _didn't_ stand a chance.

_Show no fear, Aveline. You got this, you're not afraid of anything. By any chance, would Rocky and Dad show up like last time?_

She needed to get that sword away from Brad, but how would she do this? She wasn't extremely agile, at least not in this damn dress she picked out. Next time, she'd just use the suit. She took a slight step back and moved her arrow to the bow. She stared at Brad, who was tapping the blunt side of the sword against his right leg. At a second's glance she thought she saw a bulge that disturbed her to the point she was ready to fire the arrow into it. She met Brad's venomous gaze and started to pull her arrow back. "You're toast, Lamont. I thought you had no part in the attack on my family…"

"We _don't_, but we do want to take our revenge out on you. I would think that's obvious. If you're going to shoot me with that arrow, go ahead." Blood was trickling down his right arm where her last arrow had pierced him. He hardly appeared fazed. "By the way, there's four of us, not three…"

"What?" She heard her grandparents' muffled screams behind her and quickly looked at the rooftop in time to see a man somersaulting off. She yelped and quickly fired an arrow at him, but missed. He landed on his feet behind her and struck her in the back with his elbow, knocking the bow out of her hands. She started to reach for her weapon. She suddenly jerked back by the man tucking his arms underneath hers. "Hey!" She growled and turned her head back over hers shoulder, freezing in panic, this was the same 'suitor' that attacked her before, but that man hadn't gone by the Lamont name! "You?!" The man smirked at her and tilted his head to the side.

"My name's Tyler Lamont. Good to meet you again. Now…you're going to give me what I wanted then, and if you're good, we might not be so rough on you." Her heart crashed against her ribs and adrenaline flushed through her blood. Her? Submit?

"Never!" She lifted her foot up and kicked back into his right leg, causing him to scream out in pain. She started to turn and attack him. She was quickly thrown against the ground, striking the gunshot wound from before, and sending a violent, stabbing pain through her body. She gripped her side and cringed, sucking in a deep breath of air. _"Damn this wound!"_

Tyler grabbed her hair and yanked her off the ground. She flailed her arms, trying desperately to strike him, though blinded by pain and wind. Aveline could hear her grandfather trying to call out, thrashing about in the chair he was tied to. Eventually, she opened her eyes and saw him fall over onto the ground, slamming his head against the dirt and watching with weakened eyes.

"Grandpa! Damn it…" She started to pull away to run for him, but in her momentary distraction, David and Rebecca grabbed her arms. She glared back at them, growling angrily as they slammed her back against the ground and pinned her to the ground. She kicked her feet out and exclaimed in anger, trying to free herself from them. "When I get out of this, I'm going to kill you! Every one of you!"

"Here you go, Tyler," Brad said while tossing him the sword. Aveline lifted her head and gasped out when Tyler moved the sword above her neck, holding it steady. Sweat ran down her forehead and her heart's erratic beating continued to increase. Brad chuckled evilly and bent on one knee between her legs. "Pity we were going to give you a chance and go easy on you, but I guess it's true what they say, you're no meek princess. Tough as nails. It's going to be all the merrier for us to destroy you." She spat out at him and started to lift her right leg up, only to have him grab it and slam it back to the ground with an angry roar. "Do not piss me off or I'll have Tyler cut you with your father's and brother's sword a lot sooner than I'd like."

"As opposed to what you're wanting? I'd rather die!" She wasn't going out easily either, she would fight them to the death.

Brad chuckled evilly and closed his eyes. "That opportunity will come soon enough." He snapped his fingers at Tyler and pointed towards the sword. "Cut off her dress." Her eyes widened as Tyler flashed the sword along her dress. She screamed out in anguish and arched her back as Brad reached forward and tore the dress from her. He raised his eyebrows at the suit and started rubbing his chin. "Now a suit, I see…cut resistant?"

Tyler swept the blade carefully along the suit, only to realize the inevitable, he couldn't cut it. She smirked at him as Tyler narrowed his eyes. "It can't be cut, Brad." Brad reached down and grabbed part of the suit between his fingers, trying to pull it up. "It's like it's part of her."

"There ought to be a zipper somewhere. Somehow she has to be getting out of this. Isn't that right, Princess?" His mocking tone chilled her blood, and his lethal gaze burned her. She clamped her lips shut and glared angrily at him. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly and her hair had cloaked her face. She blew her hair from her face, growling at the man.

"That was my ball dress, asshole."

"You're the one that decided to wear it. Looks better off you, I'd say."

"Fuck you."

"Ooh, such language for an esteemed princess, wouldn't you think?" The cousins laughed and Aveline turned her glare to Rebecca, shocked that a fellow woman would be a part of this. She felt Brad's fingers on her face, pulling her head towards him. His hot breath stung her cheeks and nose caught a whiff of what smelled like moldy cheese. Her stomach churned and her eyes moved to the back of her head. "I hear you've been saving yourself, at least that's what Tyler says. Maybe you have someone else in mind, and jury's out saying it's that Bransford kid. You know all the captives can see this right now? So I guess your beloved Ander gets to watch as his beautiful princess is taken from him."

"Fuck you!"

"Seriously? You're _still_ doing that?" Tyler looked over to Brad, annoyed.

"I thought I was going to have first dibs." Aveline shot a glare his way and clenched her fist, trying to pull her arm away from David to punch Tyler in the face. "She is a fiery one, I'll say that."

"Well first we need to get this suit off her. After that, everyone is getting their fair share. After that, we'll cut her a couple times, let her watch as we kill the old folks over there, then leave her to die."

Aveline groaned and tilted her head back, fighting the frustrated tears in her eyes. She silenced the urge to scream out and fought harder to think of a way out of this. David and Rebecca were strong, she had to give them credit for that, but they couldn't hold her forever. The more she pushed her arms up, the more they pushed down, and it didn't help that Rebecca was pressing against the spot of her arm where the wolf had clawed her.

"I think the zipper's on her back," David muttered. "The only question is, how do we get it off her after that?"

"We hope she's flexible." The cousins moved her body and flipped her over suddenly, slamming her chest hard against the ground. She groaned out and let her head fall down against the dirt, resting her right cheek on the ground. She clenched her eyes shut and heard the sound of her back zipper siding off. "Would you look at that, easy as hell." He muttered about the quiver that was still attached to her back, in which case, he'd have difficulty taking it off since it was strapped diagonally around her chest.

"I swear I'm going to kill you," she protested. If she kicked Brad, Tyler might cut her with that sword. Right now, Brad was the only one that she _could_ hit. The key was to get rid of that sword and they could do nothing at all to her. She wasn't afraid of getting hit, she could take a beating if she had to. She turned her eyes to Tyler, he was kneeling right near her face. Her tongue slid across her lips as she visualized biting into that fleshy leg of his. During her hunts with her father, her survival training taught her how to bite hard enough to actually tear flesh off with her teeth, a gross and disgusting tactic, but a helpful one nonetheless.

She felt the cold air striking her exposed upper and lower back and exclaimed angrily when Brad started sliding his hand down her spine. "Relax, Princess, I'm still struggling to get this damn suit off you."

"Hey Brad…" She put her chin on the ground and narrowed her eyes as he responded with question. "Know a tactic my father taught me whenever we went out hunting? If caught defenseless by a wild animal, it helps to bite them. I can tear the flesh right off you with my teeth in order to protect myself." She started preparing herself for the nauseating task of biting into Tyler's leg, but the sound of a bullet ringing out startled her into silence.

Blood splashed onto her face and Tyler fell beside her, his eyes wide, eyebrows arched, and mouth opened in a deafening scream. She began to shudder as her eyes moved to the hole in the side of his head. What was going on? She couldn't move to see, too stunned and far too frightened.

Another shot rang out and Rebecca fell onto her back, a bullet hole was directly in the middle of her forehead. At the sound of a third shot, Aveline flipped onto her back, ignoring David's convulsing body. She was shocked to see Martin, walking forward and firing off shots like he was some sort of western movie hero. Brad was looking back at him with a terrified expression. Martin's glare fell onto him. Aveline could see the intense fire in his eyes, freezing Brad in place.

She couldn't react, she didn't know _how_. Why was Martin, of all people, helping her? Why was he willingly killing off his own cousins, for that matter! "You're making me miss my westerns, Brad…"

Martin was dressed in a red and blue plaid shirt, a black leather vest, brown jeans, and what appeared to be cowboy boots. He had two empty holsters at his waist, and a bulge in his chest that could be another gun. She wanted to snicker, but was still trying to process the scene as a whole. It was Brad who spoke what she was thinking. "What's with the western getup, Marty?" Martin shoved his guns into the holsters and narrowed his eyes.

"I like to get into character when I watch my shows." Aveline slowly reached for the handle of the sword beside her, eyeing the back of Brad's head. Her hand was shaking violently and her breathing was erratic. Currently, she hated Brad more than she hated Martin, and how was she supposed to process Martin's saving her? She didn't need someone saving her! She wasn't a man-hating feminist, but she also wasn't a damsel in distress! How _dare_ Brad put her in this situation!

"You'd kill your own cousins, Marty?"

"After everything my sick and twisted family did to me…after everything my mother and father did to me, to my brother, to _all_ of us…Normally I'd consider this a mercy kill. You don't deserve mercy, Brad." Martin started reaching for his chest, keeping his sharp glare on Brad. "_No one_ was allowed to be this dirty, this underhanded. I was going to let you guys have fucking peace by not involving you in this shit! You have the gall to come and try this stunt on Sviederbach's Princess?"

"You're one to talk-"

"That's different! This wasn't my plan." Martin slowly pulled a silver gun from his chest, one Aveline instantly recognized as a recently created laser gun. She stammered in her speech, questioning the use of the gun. Brad stared at it with a startled expression. "David and Rebecca, I don't know how you got them into this, but the bullets…those were mercy kills. Tyler? Yeah, I was too pissed and gave him one of those, but _you?_" He scoffed and shook his head. "You sly bastard, I've reserved this gun for you. This laser will set your internal organ on fire, guess which one I'm aiming for?" He shifted the gun towards Brad, narrowing his eyes. "That's right. Your brain."

"Screw you!" Brad reached for his jeans, tearing a gun from beneath, her eyes widened and her heart froze once more. She hadn't known he had a gun with him! Had she gone about her plan to try and bite Tyler, Brad could very well have shot her. Reflexively, Aveline grabbed the handle of the sword and swung it forward, piercing Brad through the back and out his stomach. Brad exclaimed and blood spilt from his lips. "Bitch!"

She stared at him, still trembling under his fiery gaze. He was glaring over his right shoulder, as though ready to kill her on the spot. Her lips quivered as his gun hand moved up and pointed in her direction. Within an instant, a bright red laser shot into Brad's head, causing him to drop the gun and fall to the ground, screaming as he clutched his head.

Martin put his gun back and closed his eyes. "Aveline, unless you want more blood on you, I'd move." She didn't hesitate to pull herself to her feet, using her sword to steady herself. When she looked back to Brad, his head was starting to bubble. Her stomach flipped and she turned away in disgust. His scream ended with an explosion. "Sorry you had to see that…"

She took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. Her eyes moved towards Brad's body, everything above his neck was now just a large explosion of blood splatter. She put her hand to her mouth and swallowed a disgusted gag. "W-Why would you help me, Martin?"

"I didn't want my cousins hurting you the way they were planning to. It isn't right…"

"I'm not…not sure what you think 'right' qualifies as. You just killed your family, and…" She looked down to her collar and raised an eyebrow, the camera light was no longer on. "The camera-"

"I turned them off for this." Martin folded his arms over and closed his eyes. "Listen Aveline. My family sucks, all right? There's not much I can tell you about that. It was my father who wanted all of this, my entire family…I have no escape from them. I'd sooner die, but I'll confess, I didn't want to leave their soulless bodies walking around. You don't know everything. You'd like to think you do, but you do not. Yes I've abused Mala, but did I say I was a proud man for it? No. I took out the anger and aggression from my own abuse, ranging from physical to sexual abuse from my own _mother_, and I took my anger out on Mala because she just…took it…I'd like to get her away from them, and I've tried, but my family just won't let her go." Aveline was still stunned by his words, and watched as he walked over and pulled her grandpa's chair upright, then worked to untie the man. His expression was tense and stony, and his eyes held disdain for those he was speaking against. "I know it was wrong, and it's hard to help it. I have anger management issues, yes. And if you still want to kill me, go ahead."

"I-I can't right now Martin. I…you just _saved_ me…I'm your damn enemy." She wasn't completely processing what he was saying, and how could she be expected to do that? Her pride was shaken just by the fact that he was there.

"One reason I shut off the cameras is because I'm confessing this to you. There are certain things the world doesn't need to know, Aveline. My cousins didn't need to do to you what my family had done to me, to my brother. I wouldn't do that sort of thing to anyone, not even my worst enemy." He gave her a knowing glance, which was a strange comfort for her. She watched as Kashlack and Squitza rose from the ropes that had them bound, then ran to her, embracing her with their arms. Squitza was kissing the top of her head several times and sobbing frantically."David didn't have to die, he was the only one not twisted...his sister, some kind of strange insane obsession, maybe she could have been helped, but the second Brad roped them in...I'm sorry Aveline..."

Martin tapped his grandfather's body with his foot and released a heavy sigh. "When I leave here, we go back to the way things were. Keep that in mind. I'm only protecting you this one time, after that…I can't do anything more. My family will already be suspicious enough. I'd be surprised they don't kill me after this." He took out his own teleporter and lifted his eyebrows. "And by the way, you're welcome. Now I need to get back to my shows…Feel free to take a long rest."

Within minutes, he was gone, and Aveline was about ready to break down and cry as all the tension and stress fell from her. Astor had woken up and was standing by her side, so she took the moment to kneel and hug him close, finally letting her own tears fall from her face. Never before had she been so thankful to see him.

It may take a while to process everything that just happened, and rest was something she'd definitely need after all this. For now, her moment of terror was over, and she just wanted to get home to those that were safe. She'd be safe then.

* * *

This was a tough chapter to write. We saw a glimpse of the cousins, more of them will be seen in Martin's side story that I'm working on. I'll fill you in on that when this story's over, but certain details must happen first. What are your thoughts on this chapter? Observations?


	23. A Princess's Meltdown

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 23 (Meltdown)

"Aveline!" Aveline was practically tackled by Estelle upon return to the house. Her cousin's hug was overwhelming and powerful, crushing her. She made an effort to hug Estelle back and looked up at the other people in the house. Everyone was worried and upset. The kitchen wall had a hole in it, and Rocky's fist appeared to have pieces of that wall scattered about it. "Oh god, we were all so scared. I can't believe they'd do that to you."

"E-Everyone saw that?" She stiffened and staggered backwards, putting her hand to her forehead. She needed to not let this faze her. It was already known that the whole scene was on camera, Aveline just hadn't wanted to believe it. "Martin rescued me…" Estelle raised an eyebrow and looked down to her collar, the camera light was on once more. She could practically feel the nation's relief that she was safe. "He didn't plan his cousin's attacks, and he…those four…they won't be a problem again."

"That whole family is nuts!" Kashlack exclaimed. The others murmured their agreements. Madeline hurried over, hugging Aveline, Astor. She had a cold rag in her hand, which she used to clean the trickle of blood on Kashlack's forehead. He thanked her. "I'm not sure what Martin's planning, but he seemed pissed with his family as a whole." Aveline's eyes shot open and she slowly moved over to the couch, where everyone followed. She wasn't sure exactly what to do next, considering things just weren't black and white anymore. She was confused as well, wasn't Martin a bad guy or was he not? He wasn't as bad as his family was? Was it his father that orchestrated everything?

"I think it might have been Martin's family that jumpstarted this whole mess, not Martin himself. I don't know, I can't tell. I'm very confused right now. I think…I think I need some time alone." She heard Rocky say something about her needing to have gone with Aveline. She shook her head and moved up from the couch. "You couldn't have come along Rocky, still too risky. Just…let me have some time to myself…" The others nodded and let Aveline go to the guest room she'd been staying in. Granted, she was going to have to move out of this room eventually, the house was getting far too packed.

Aveline closed the door, locked it, and pressed her back firmly against it. Her palms hugged the wooden door and her chest expanded and fell with breathless pants. The memory of her struggle played through her mind, she could see Brad's face and practically taste that moldy breath of his. Her heart slammed her chest, her cheeks drained of color, and she slid down to the floor. Her arms pulled her knees to her chest and her face buried into them as she allowed her tears to slide along her cheeks.

"I don't want…" She breathed in sharply, her body trembling and anxiety rushing through her. "This is too much." She could hardly speak her mind. Her hand moved to her chest, where her lungs felt ready to explode. "T-They didn't get me, they didn't do anything…" The last time someone tried a stunt like that, she was able to talk to Ander about it. Aveline lifted her head and let out one sob, realizing she wouldn't be able to talk to him. "I want Ander…I want my mom…I want dad." She was happy to have her relatives back, but it wasn't complete until her mom and dad were there. "I don't need anyone to 'save' me, I'm strong. I'm a tough princess, I'm not a weak one." She whimpered and moved the back of her head against the door. Her body ached and the pain chilled her body.

The radio buzzed and her eyes shot open as Martin's voice entered her ears. "You should take a nap before getting started, Aveline." She wanted to curse him out. How had he been _right there_ and she didn't take him out? Then again, it was too much to do at the time. "No one ever said you were weak." She heard him scoff and raised an eyebrow at his words. Was he fighting himself to say that? "I know I don't usually say nice things, I'm not a good person. I acknowledge that. I may not be as virulent as the rest of my family out there, but that doesn't say I haven't _done_ things that are probably lacking in justification. Of all the things I've done, dishonesty is not one of them, and I don't mince words. Got that?"

"Yeah…" She wiped her eyes and hugged her knees once more, slowly rocking back and forth. "What do you want, Martin?"

"I want many things. Above all, I'd like to be free. We're cousins, whether or not either of us would like to admit it. We are family." A distant cousin, but family nonetheless, she understood. "Tenth cousin once removed. I'd say you also just got rescued by a 'prince' of sorts." She could feel a smirk in his tone and quickly scowled. She hated that cliché! He cleared his throat and relaxed a sigh. "You're not weak, for the record. You're strong, you held your ground a lot longer than half the damsel-type princesses out there. Hell, you could give Peach from the Mario Bros a run for her money."

She laughed and swept away the new tears in her eyes. It was hard to think that he could make her laugh, but it was something she needed. "Can I ask you something? Would you…let me talk to Ander? I won't try to find him or anything, I just…he's someone I need to talk to after this." Martin seemed to hesitate for a period, finally sighing and giving in.

"Sure…just don't give each other clues about his whereabouts, he's not the next person you need to find. I'll set his collar to turn on the radio." She almost wanted to thank him for the transfer, but her pride just wouldn't allow it. "So, no reward for the 'prince' that rescued you?" His tone was a teasing one, and one that she did not fully appreciate, no matter how much she wanted to laugh.

"Don't press your luck, Martin." Freedom came at a price, and everyone wanted to be free. The first words he said in this conversation, those very words replayed in her mind. He was family, but he was not free? She wasn't doing him any favors, because he was the one threatening her family, or so she would like to believe he was. "Martin, do you believe in God?" Martin choked and wavered in his speech. She started to lean forward, curious as to whether or not he believed.

"Yeah, I do. Why? Are you going to preach to me now or something?"

"No, I was just…wondering." She had her answer, but if he believed, then why was he doing something so vile? "Why would you do all this, then? I mean-"

"Because it's the 'Lamont way' or something, some shit my dad always shoved down my-" He stopped and Aveline sucked in her breath, holding it and waiting for him to continue. He seemed extremely agitated now, so it was likely best to not anger him any further. "Sometimes it feels like He's forgotten me, that God wouldn't want shit to do with me. Left me in this damn family. Is that what you want to hear, Ave? That's the way it is, like it or not."

"You don't have to do what your family tells you, Martin."

"The hell I don't. Anyway…talk to Ander a while." The radio buzzed over before she could continue, and Ander's frantic voice brought tears to her eyes.

"Aveline! You're safe!" She clenched her eyes shut and slowly nodded her head. "I'm here with your dad, we're forced to watch all of this on the screen." How great it was that Ander was with her _dad_, of all people. It was a hell of a time to be locked up and just realizing that the boy you're locked up with was dating your daughter. "We want to be there with you right now, we really do."

"I know. I'll find you though…count on it. Are you guys okay? I mean, seeing what happened…"

"We kept each other calm," Gunther said in the background. "But more importantly, are _you_ all right?" She trembled once more and vigorously shook her head. She didn't want to admit to _not_ being okay, but she also didn't want to lie and say she was.

"I'm fine, but I'm breaking down. I…I needed to hear you guys. Ander, Dad…I miss you. I love you…" She wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. "Look at me, I'm a blubbering wreck! I feel so pathetic. I'm the _strong_ one, I'm the _tough_ one, I can't afford to cry! I can't afford to be hurt! I have to protect everyone, and I…I can't _do it!"_

"Aveline…" Her sobbing increased, but she still kept her attention to her father. "Listen, I know it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders right now, and I know you feel like you have to be strong, but it's okay to cry. That is not a sign of weakness, fear is not a sign of anything other than _strength_." She slowly lifted her head, yearning to feel her father's embrace, and longing to feel Ander beside her. Her father's words were a comfort to her, warming her as if he _were_ there with her. "When I was younger, I didn't want all this. I didn't want to come be a king, I was too proud to even be bothered with Sviederbach at the time-"

"My dad got him over here," Ander pointed out with a chuckle. Aveline's lips turned up and her heart began to slow from its violent pounding.

"This is true. As I started realizing what was going on, and of course…Ander's father had this big suicide plan mapped out, he wanted me to kill him of course." A familiar scene to Aveline, it felt to her as though this was exactly where Martin was leading _her_. Into killing him, to set him 'free'. In the process, was he doing what Frankie had done? Ridding Sviederbach of the plague that threatened it? His own family? Which, if he was her cousin, which family did he care about more? Tinka was free and alive, so were all of her siblings, and Sviederbach's chief bodyguard. In other words, it was completely _pointless_ to keep Gunther, Cece, Ander, and all the rest locked up. The Lamont family would _never_ claim the throne with this, because Tinka was next in line! Or well, she and Astor were next in line should Tinka decide not to take over for her brother. "Aveline, are you there?"

"What?" She'd zoned out on her thoughts, and chuckled with embarrassment. "Sorry Dad…continue…"

"Up to that fight, I was scared. I was scared of losing your mom, of losing my family, and yes…scared that the country might not make it if I didn't do something. Did I cry? I'll admit it, I did. It all made me stronger, though, and more determined to take the responsibility placed on me. I know, though, how it can feel to have the weight of the world on you, and to be totally overwhelmed."

"It's hard, Daddy. I don't even know what to do now, Martin just told me he wants 'to be free', whatever that means. Up till now, I wanted to kill him as much as the rest of his family, but…he is family…"

"Nothing's ever black and white," Ander spoke confidently, "There is always going to be a gray area somewhere. You just have to recognize it and make the right decisions. The whole country has faith in you, they trust you. They're even reinstating my father's nobility status over here! Your dad told me that." Aveline blinked and moved her hand to her forehead, groaning slightly. She _still _couldn't get over the fact that her parents probably would have accepted their relationship in the long run.

Gunther laughed once, "He's a smart man, Aveline, and a great catch. I can't believe you two never told us you were dating! It would have saved your mother a lot of grief. We were hoping to get Frankie reinstated as a noble, so that maybe we could convince you and Ander to get together, but it looks like that's already the case."

"Yeah, well, I thought you and mom wouldn't be all that happy that I was dating the son of…" She paused and thought on all the visits they'd paid the Bransford family over the years. Her voice fell flat and her eyes narrowed, how stupid was she to not notice that that they were so close to each other? "You know what? Never mind. I'm _going_ to find you guys. You're right, I'm strong. I'm not a weak princess that needs to rely on a savior. Just one time can't damage my confidence that much, even if it _was_ Martin that saved me. I can't let that stop me! In fact, I _refuse_ to let that stop me!"

"That's the spirit!" Ander cheered. "There's the Aveline I know and love." She still wanted to break down and cry, though. She didn't feel like going out there right now, she wasn't ready. "Just promise me one thing, okay?"

"What's that?"

"That you get some rest. Martin himself told you to take some rest, so do that…try to relax and let the stress go. I know you want to rush out there, save everybody, but you can't do that if you _don't rest_."

"Then…then what do I do about Martin? When I get to _him_…"

"I think you'll know what the right decision is." She could pray for him, she was a very religious person at heart, so it felt right to pray for that decision. "You know, when Dad was sitting there telling your dad to kill him, it would have happened if your mom hadn't found my mom. So that's good intuition. I know from our relationship, and your dad tells me, you have that same intuition about things."

"Yeah I just need to follow it more…both Astor and Martin wanted me to sit that last one out, and I didn't, but I _felt_ like something bad was going to happen…and it did…"

"Just don't give up."

"I won't. I love you, Ander…I really do."

"I love you. Hey you know what?" She hummed as his tone grew chipper. "I'd hold you and kiss you right now if I could." Her heart slowly lifted and she moved over to her bed, falling back onto it as if she were falling into a field of soft, lush grass.

"I know you would, and I wish you could hold me. I need that so much right now. My entire body feels like it's on fire, and I feel like if anyone touches me right now, I may hit them."

"You'll be okay Aveline. We believe in you. Sviederbach believes in you…"

"Thank you."

* * *

What are your thoughts and observations?


	24. Self-Empowerment

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

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Chapter 24 (Self-Empowerment)

"He actually broke up with me once before," Mala said as she spoke on the phone to Art. "Actually quite recently we broke up, right after this whole hell began. He wanted to let me go, knew I was talking to you on the phone, and started to take me back your apartment..." She was hiding away in one of the rooms while Martin watched his westerns. He had DVDs and various other videos of old time westerns that often calmed him down. Hell, he knew every Eastwood and John Wayne quip in the book, and enjoyed quoting them. After what his cousins had done to Aveline, he was furious and asked her to stay out of his sight because he didn't want her to become subject to the anger he was feeling.

"He _did_? Why the hell are you two dating then?" Mala dipped her eyes towards the ground and tucked her lower lip beneath her teeth. The mist she'd seen the other day was still following her around, and on occasion, she'd spot it nearby. It wasn't there before, when they were in America. It was almost like it was trapped here in Sviederbach, within the confines of the castle. "Seriously, if you're not together, then why do you take that shit from him?"

"Because of his family…they forced it. When he broke up with me, 'set me free' or whatever, they told him to take me back. They forced him, they won't let me go, and any time he tries to let me go, they 'punish' him. At least Aunt Erin does. That, and I'm still afraid…mostly of his family, not him. I know you say that it's not true, but I can't help to think that no one else would want me. I'm _trying_ to accept that's not the case, but you don't know how hard it is to do that." With Art telling her that he cared about her, it was building up her esteem little by little, but she didn't believe escape was possible. "His family has been more abusive to me than Martin ever has been. Martin's just angry, and I know it doesn't justify the things he's done to me, but…I'm scared that I can't escape."

"But just sitting there, letting him hurt you, letting his family hurt you…that doesn't solve anything, Mala." What did he want her to do? If she left, Martin would be pissed. Likely attacked by his own family. If she stayed, she was subject to more abuse than she wanted to handle, but likely not from Martin. It was all a part of life, however, and the only life that she knew. "You know what? I've been thinking about that mist you told me about…I really believe it's your mother."

She scoffed and shook her head disbelievingly. "Spare me. Like my mom would give a damn about me. The woman killed King Brustrum, she tried to take out both King Gunther and Mr. Bransford, albeit she was blinded by rage, sure…I highly doubt she gives two cents about me." Art hummed a tune. Mala heard water running, followed by the sound of a plate clinking onto another. She smiled sadly and wiped a stray tear from her eyes. "Any sign of Odo?" The man apparently hadn't returned to the apartment yet, so of course they were a bit worried for him.

"No, but that's fine, I've been cooking my own meals around here. It's kind of quiet."

"I imagine so." With three roommates gone, Art had to be lonely. During that first week, the apartment had been so filled with happiness and a sense of togetherness that was missed. "Not so fun watching the television alone, is it?"

"Not a bit." His tone was so lax and quiet that she couldn't help to chuckle. "Maybe you could come over and brighten the place up with your presence? It's so boring."

"I _doubt_ I'd be able to make anything more interesting for you."

"Don't be so sure. I just ordered like a large pizza, god knows why, and there's nobody here to help me eat it up. Strangely enough, I can't stand to eat too much pizza!" She pursed her lips together and glanced at the door, she had a longing inside of her to go over to him. Maybe if she asked Martin if she could leave for a walk, he'd let her. Then again, if she told him where she was going, he might not want to let her go. If she _didn't_ tell him where she was going, he'd get pissed at her. He desire to be with Art was great, however, greater than her desire to be cooped up in a crusty castle that wasn't even their home. "What can I do to convince you, Mala? Anything I can do that won't get me kicked off the campus? Like, _not_ putting those lizards in the dean's desk…" She put her hand over her mouth and laughed.

"Are you that bored?"

"More so…I think I just handed in a paper to my instructor on how to play beer pong by yourself." She laughed again, smiling at the cool and collective tone in Art's voice. No one made her happy like this, she didn't think she deserved to be happy. "I've tried calling Odo, but the guy's just too terrified to come back. He says he'll come back soon enough, but I'm starting to wonder if he'll come back at all. Looks like I'll have to put in for two replacement roommates instead of one. Ah well, I guess that's just how things go. A shame too, because I'm pretty sure Odo would scold me for having burnt the beans and rice that I had last night. That dude knows his food."

"He is a good cook."

"You bet. I miss the scrawny guy."

"Ander seems more your pal than Odo, though."

"This is true! I miss him too, but I know Aveline will be getting him back. At least I haven't totally lost a third roommate, but yeah, it's boring over here. Hell, I'll even break one of the rules for you and let you stay overnight in one of the empty rooms."

"You'd do that? Why?"

"Where else do you have to go off to?" This was a good point, she'd be safer with Art than she would with Martin and the Lamonts. She could easily take him up on his offer, but she was concerned that it would lead to his getting in trouble with the campus.

"What if someone found out you had a girl in the apartment overnight?"

"Eh, they're lenient anyways. So many people break that rule that the faculty's just gotten bored of enforcing it. Besides, as much of a stickler as I am for the rules, I'm willing to break them a little for you…"

"That's nice." She moved her eyes towards the window. She was only on the ground floor of the castle, if she slipped out of the window, she could make it. "I've pretty much stayed out of Martin's way since all this happened, so he probably wouldn't even notice if I left."

"If you do decide to leave, be careful. I'll do anything I can, but don't do anything to endanger yourself." Simply talking to him was likely an endangerment, but for some reason, she didn't care. She found it thrilling to be able to talk to him and to feel this sense of entitlement, this sense of teetering on the line of danger. Maybe it was due to how her mother lived her life, in a constant brush with danger, but when had she _ever_ been one to take risks like her mom? She was never a risk taker! Maybe Art was right, what if that mist was her mother's spirit? In which case, was that mist having an influence over her? Was it because of this mist that she felt so empowered to take a chance on Art?

In her heart, she felt for the first time that someone actually cared about her. She wanted to know if he could make her truly happy, if he could take care of her. She wanted to look up to Aveline as her role model as well, to be strong like her, and not a weak and good for nothing girl that couldn't take care of herself. Even her mother had been a ferociously strong woman in life, whether or not she did something that was so heinous, Tabitha was a very powerful force to be reckoned with. Queen Cece was also a strong woman, having gone through so much and never backing down in her life. There were many role models to look at, and Art had pointed them all out once before.

With all these strong women around, Mala couldn't help but wonder what her problem was. Why couldn't she escape the oppressive thumb that was Martin and his family? She'd done so once before when he broke things off with her, but he had to come swinging back because his family was threatening him or his younger brother once again. Now he was wiping them all out, or Aveline was doing so, but he was very highly stressed because of it. In sense, he was angrier as well, and more likely to lash out and take his anger on just about anything he came near.

Fortunately for her, he was focused so intently on his westerns, using them to keep himself calm. This provided way for him to not notice her slipping away. "You know what, Art? I…I think I will take you up on your offer." She heard him gasp, and thought she heard a cheer. Her heart jumped to her throat as her eyes scanned the window once more. "Why _can't _I be like Aveline? Why can't I be strong, take risks, and _be_ somebody?"

"That's the spirit, Mala. See, I knew you were brave, you just need to pull it out, you know?" Her lips curved upwards as her heart swelled with determination. "You have what it takes to be strong, to be determined, and to be just like the heroes in your life that you look up to."

"I never said I had any heroes."

"Oh really? Then who is Aveline to you?"

"The Princess of Sviederbach…a strong Princess who I look up to because she never gives in…"

"Therefore she is one of your role models. Maybe even your first hero, if you haven't had anyone before that." She chuckled and moved over to the window, putting her hand on the stony frame. The wind breezed in and blew against her face, and once more, she saw the mist hovering outside. She felt a pull towards the mist, a yearning to follow. "You have everything it takes to be whatever and whoever you want to be, you have the strength to stand up for yourself. You just need to reach inside and pull it out. I know it'll take some time, and you know I'll do whatever I can to help you out along the way…"

"It's hard for me to trust just anyone…"

"I know, but you can trust me."

"Yeah…" She glanced over her shoulder, smiling slightly, then started to bring her leg up onto the window. "I'll be there soon, Art…I'm just going to call a cab to pick me up. Thank you for this talk…" Maybe this decision would cause Martin extra grief from his family if they found out, and if so, she would feel guilty, but she had to look out for herself in this case. _"I know the things he's been through...Maybe Aveline can help him, I can't, but Art will help me." _

"That's what I'm here for." This determination was a new, strange feeling, but she wasn't going to give up now. It was best to move before the emotion and the feeling subsided and she became fearful once again. She hated living in that life of fear, and if Art could help her overcome that, then maybe it was best that she go to him.

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So what do you guys think of this chapter?


	25. Astor's Anger

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N: Yes the main title has changed to reflect the trilogy that this story will become. There is one final installment that comes upon the completion of this story, so prepare for it. I think you'll enjoy that the best after Flames and Hunt, comes Dare. Now enjoy this chapter ^_^

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Chapter 25 (Astor's Anger)

Astor sat on the couch, watching his little siblings play with each other. It was hard to be calm, as he'd been trying to do most of the prior night and this morning. Aveline was still sleeping off what happened to her the past day He knew she wouldn't be getting anything done for a while, and that was fine with him, she _needed_ her rest. He was angry at Martin's cousins, though, and was feeling particularly vengeful.

He knew what the note said for the next person, but Martin wasn't even going to start the time up yet, and it was hell waiting to save this person. The note spoke of a young, beautiful dancer who was hidden beneath the stage that she loved, and that she would miss the stage when she moved to Sviederbach. He was sure this was Astrid, and she must be hidden in the tunnels beneath the studio.

Impatiently his fingers danced on the armrest, his eyes moved to the teleporter on the end table and the sword standing beside it. The temptation was strong, but Aveline would be pissed that he would go off alone. This was more than just rescuing Astrid, however, he wanted to prove himself. He _had _to prove himself, to show that he could hold his own ground. When the cousins showed up, he didn't even notice, and the struck him in the back of the head with something hard and blunt. His head was _still_ pounding from the strike! "I am stronger than this," he muttered. His siblings stopped moving and looked up to him with a smile.

"Play with us, Brother!" Mia exclaimed joyfully. "We're playing tag now!" Astor smiled at them and shook his head, he was in no mood anymore. How could he be? Their sister had almost been assaulted and murdered, and he did _nothing_! What terrified him most was losing her, but then he had to wonder what would happen if this ever came to pass. It would be up to him to take care of Michael, Mia, and Kuno. It would be up to him to make sure his parents were getting by well enough, and it would be up to _him_ to take the next rule on the throne when his father had to step down. "Why not, Astor? You always like to play with us…did we do something wrong? Are you mad at us?"

"No Mia, it's nothing like that."

"Are you sad about Sis?" Mia crawled onto the couch and cuddled next to him, comforting him. Michael and Kuno waddled over and sat at his feet, gazing up to his face. His eyes started to tear up. How could he protect them if he couldn't protect his eldest sister when _she_ was taken down? She never needed protection before, Aveline was always strong and vigilant, but sure she had her moments where she could be brought down. He never imagined they'd come so close to the trauma of last night.

"I'll be fine, Mia. I appreciate the concern." He loved his sister to death but she was far too young to understand the troubles going on in his mind. The anxieties that were damaging him in the past few days were far more overwhelming than anything he'd felt in his life. Being so close to Aveline and being mildly conscious enough to hear, but not move, it was more than just traumatizing. He didn't want to burden her by telling her he was at least somewhat conscious during her attack, albeit slowly waking up halfway into it. He was glad the cousins didn't do anything more to her, that Martin showed up when he did, but still he wanted to tear their throats apart. His rage towards the Lamont family was now equal to Aveline's, or greater. "Watch over Ave, would you?"

"Okay brother." He slowly rose to his feet and walked towards the sword and sheath. Mia tilted her head and hopped from the couch. "Where are you going?" Astor attached the belt around his waist, shifted his gaze to the scrap of paper on the table, it was the clue for Astrid. He narrowed his eyes and looked to the hallway towards where Aveline was staying. Hastily he grabbed the teleporter and dialed in the address of the dance studio. "Brother? Where?"

"I'm going out."

The device put him directly outside the studio, fortunately for him. He narrowed his eyes and tapped his fingers on the hilt of the sword. "All right. Got any traps for me?" He loathed the killing, but in his mind, there was no alternative. The cousins attacking Aveline was the final straw, the last thing to push him over the edge. _"Screw whether or not they were part of this entire plan…They tried to hurt my sister…they have my family, they have Astrid…the Lamonts are going to pay." _

The common phrase was that revenge was best served cold, and while true, he was not dark-hearted enough to kill without remorse. He understood that this would have to be done either way, and he was going to get it done sooner than later. "Let's do this." He pushed open the doors and casually strode into the empty studio. He raised an eyebrow and glanced back at the door, having expected it to be locked.

Walking closer to the stage, he moved his hand firmly around the handle of the blade, ready to draw at the slightest movement. The studio should be closed, since rehearsals weren't being done today. The lights above the stage turned on suddenly, causing him to freeze in the center of it. Four robots appeared in the corners of the square platform, looking like robotic versions of his parents and aunts when they were in their teenage years. He raised an eyebrow and watched them slowly making their way towards him. "Okay then…let's dance…"

His blade flashed in the light as it sailed through the air. Rocky's robot leapt forward while Cece spun towards him, Tinka cartwheeled, and Gunther began running. Astor looked back and forth at the four oncoming robots and quickly jumped up in the air, slashing his blade downward and crushing the back of Tinka's robot. The robot cracked and started to turn around as he landed on his feet. He twisted his upper body and stabbed the blade forward through the robot's chest. His eyes narrowed dangerously and his wrist twisted, sending a shockwave motion down the sword which tore through the robot.

If he remembered correctly, Gary had built the robots many years ago because he missed his dancers to that point. He'd thrown them in storage after some time, at least that's what Astrid told him. "Lamont must have turned you four on." Cece's robot began skipping towards him, swinging her arms through the air. He raised an eyebrow, embarrassed at the sight. "Sorry mom…or well…robot mom." He twisted around, smashing the handle of the blade into the head of the robot. Next, he leapt back, overhead of the three robots and threw his blade down into the Gunther robot. Both robots sparked and exploded. He landed beside his blade, crouching on one knee and exhaling softly. "One left, then it's off to the basement to get Astrid."

Astor grabbed the sword up and quickly moved it in front of himself as Rocky's metal fists came crashing down. The blow pushed him back somewhat, startling him. His breath came out as a pant while he eyed the robot. "Great, the robot can fight like the real Rocky…Someone should talk to Gary about this, too bad he's retired…" The robot lunged into the air and kicked down towards him. His eyes widened and he quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike. "Okay, _not_ pleasant!" He swung his blade through the air, slashing into the side of the robot. He then brought the blade out, lifted it into the air with both hands and stabbed downwards into the robot, destroying it. He began to pant, eyeing the now chipped and cracked stage. "Well, that could have gone better…" He straightened himself up and kicked some scrap metal from the stage and glanced towards the right where elevator doors awaited him. "One step closer. Hang tight Astrid, I'm almost there."

Once on the floor below, he ran out of the elevator and looked up to the ceiling, Astrid was hanging from the ceiling while tied to a chair. The rope was hooked up to a pulley system that was lowering her into a burning caldron. Astrid looked over to him and her eyes grew large. "Astor!"

"Astrid, hang on!"

"What do you think I'm doing!" The elevator doors slid open behind him, forcing him to turn in surprise. Eric Lamont slowly stepped out, smirking gracefully at him. The man had bruises on his face, and what looked like a split lip, telltale signs that he just discovered how strong a Bransford could be when angered.

"So nice of you to join us, Astor…I see your sister is not with you." He growled and started to lower his blade, glaring at the man. "Now the only reason you see your dear Astrid up there is because, well, the kid knows how to fight. She got pretty aggravating, so I had no choice."

"It's in her blood." He twirled his sword in his hand and narrowed his eyes. "I guess you're the one responsible for those robots up there?"

"Yes. Who would have thought Gary would have created something that could be so handy? It's a pity they failed to take you out. I thought the rules of the game were that you and your sister must travel together?" Those were the rules, but it seemed Martin didn't care, or else he was too busy with his westerns. "Martin slaughtered my son Tyler, did you see that? I thought we raised him up right, but apparently he needs some more lessons in familial respect."

"With a family like you, who needs enemies? That's all I'm saying about that subject."

"You make me laugh, boy. It's a shame I'm going to have to tear you apart limb from limb. Or, I can make you watch as the girl is dipped into that cauldron." Astor looked over his shoulder at Astrid and growled. Martin explicitly stated these people were not to be murdered unless the deadline was up, wasn't that the case? He looked back at Eric with narrow eyes. "What?"

"Martin's rules of the game were the hostages don't die unless we miss the deadline."

"Oh yes, that was _Martin's_ words, and my nephew abides by his word. However, he killed family, and he must learn what happens when he turns his back on us. We don't hold his word to a high power."

"Bastard…" Eric bolted for a nearby button and Astor ran after him, reaching out to stop him. When the man hit the button, Astrid cried out and the rope moved her down slowly. "Astrid!" His heart started to race as he charged for the caldron. "I'll get you down from here! How do you stop it."

"The machine can't be stopped once it starts up. You'd have to cut the rope and risk letting her fall into that thing." Eric began laughing as Astor's muscles tightened from rage. "You're deathly loyal to those you care about, it must be hard when you realize you can do nothing to protect them, nothing to save them. If it hadn't been for Martin, your dear sister would have been destroyed, and you could have done nothing for her." Astor clenched his fists and spun around, roaring angrily at the man.

"Don't talk about Aveline like that!"

"Astor, he's trying to provoke you!" Astrid exclaimed, "Don't let him do that!" He leaned back, studying the smirk on the man's face. If he focused all his energy into fighting Eric right now, then Astrid would continue sinking down. He looked up at Astrid to see her trying to move her body. "I'm trying to gain some momentum Astor, if I can swing myself out enough, maybe you can cut the rope and I can land on the ground." It was a risky move, but with her flexibility, he was sure she could pull it off.

"How sure are you that you can gain enough momentum?" He slowly stepped backwards as Eric brought a knife from his pocket. "Really? A six inch knife against this thing?" Eric shrugged and bounced the knife in air.

"You'd be surprised what I can do with this. I was going to enjoy cutting your sister's heart out, but it appears you'll have to do. Unless of course, you want to go back and bring your sister with you."

"Once again, leave Aveline out of this." He moved his eyes to a crate near the giant cauldron, then traced a path in the air towards the top. He could make it, the top of the cauldron was only about eight feet high, the top of the crate was four feet off the ground. "Right…prioritize…" Where was Noak anyway? Shouldn't he be with Astrid? He'd have to ask. "Another time, Eric."

"Wha…" Astor bolted for the crate, putting his hand to the top and vaulting up onto the crate. He looked up to Astrid, who had managed to start swinging like a pendulum, but was still only moving in a three foot arc. "Damn it boy, get down from there!"

"Buzz off, Lamont. I'll deal with you after this." He reached up and jumped for the cauldron, missing the top by one inch. He landed on one knee and growled, there was no way he could give up. Not now. After two more unsuccessful jumps, he finally managed to pull himself to the top. He nearly fell off when he saw the boiling lava inside. "How the hell did you manage to get lava over here?"

"A lot of hard work, now get off that thing, damn it!"

"No thanks." There was at least a six foot diameter, and the rim of the cauldron was large and flat, making it easy to stand on. The pulley had lowered Astrid close to his level. She turned her head to him and smiled as her body came in full swing towards him. He reached out for the leg of the wooden chair, grinning at her. "Hey Astrid, did you miss me?"

"Took you long enough." His hand tightened around the chair leg. Instinctively, he slashed through the ropes in between Astrid and the back of the chair. She lurched forward, freeing her arms, and fell into him, causing both of them to fall off the cauldron and land safely into the mess of crates beside them. "That was close. Do me a favor Astor, _never_ cut it that close again please!"

"Sorry." When Eric started screaming out, reminding them of his presence, Astor turned in time to see the man charging for him. There was not enough time to react, and surely Eric would stab him. When the man was within inches of him, an arrow sliced through Eric's head and over theirs. Astor's eyes widened as the man froze and collapsed on the spot, revealing Aveline with a bow and arrow trained upon Eric. Martin was beside her, shaking his head and holding his own teleporter. Had Aveline asked Martin to show up? "And I'm in trouble…"

"_This_ is how you try to prove yourself?" Aveline asked with a low growl. "Going off on your own, risking everything? What happened to 'we are a team'?"

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He managed to get Astrid, but it was risky. What do you think of the stuff that happened here?


	26. Aveline's Growing Irritation

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

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Chapter 26 (Aveline's Growing Irritation)

Aveline's anger required no words, and indeed when she realized what Astor was doing, she forced Martin to use his teleporter to bring her to him. They were just in time, and she wasted no time striking Eric with an arrow to save her little brother from the man's knife. She lowered her bow and glared at Astor, whose arm was protectively around Astrid. He rubbed the back of his head, chuckling nervously as she pushed her bow into her quiver.

"Again I'm missing my westerns for this," Martin muttered. "Anyway, the rule was pretty basic: You two do not separate. It's dangerous to do that, but anyway…seems like everyone's breaking my rules. You, my family, and god knows what else is next." Aveline didn't have time to sit here and listen to Martin complain about his crappy rules, she just wanted to talk to her brother. The vein in her forehead started to pop out as she moved towards him.

"What would have happened if something went wrong, Astor? We're a team for a reason, we need to stick together!" It seemed obvious that taking a rest was a bad idea, especially since it meant him going off because he was angry. "I'm angry too Astor. I know the whole thing with Martin's cousins was just…it was messed up, but you can't just lash out or do things without thinking about them. Like it or not, you're my responsibility until we can get Mom and Dad back, and I don't want to lose you!" She heard Martin say something about his leaving to go back to his shows, but she wasn't through with him yet. She whirled around, facing him and pointing her finger out. "You're staying right _there_ until this is over!" He rolled his eyes and slowly shook his head. Confident that he was going nowhere, she turned back to Astor. "I'm glad you're safe, I am, but don't just vanish like that. You can use all the excuses in the book, but the bottom line is, I'm your big sister and I need to know if you're okay. Mom and Dad would never forgive me if I let something happen to you!"

Astor bowed his head and slowly balled his fists. "I'm sorry. I only did it because I felt weak. I was conscious, barely, when they were attacking you." She froze, her eyebrows shot up and her body grew tense. "I couldn't move, I couldn't stop them, I could only sit there, afraid of what they were going to do…"

"They didn't do anything, Astor…"

"I know that, but the thing is, I should have been able to do something! For the first time, I was powerless. I couldn't help you, and then I was scared. I didn't want something to happen to you. I didn't want to think I was going to hold you back or that I was too weak…" She lowered her arms, slowly absorbing his words. Unfortunately now she felt terrible for being angry at him. Deflated, Aveline crouched in front of him and brought her arms around him to console him. She softened her tone and closed her eyes.

"You're not weak Astor, and being scared is okay. As much as I don't want to admit it…I was terrified back there. I was." The memory continued to haunt her, causing a tiny shake to overtake her body. She shrugged it off and carefully breathed in and out. "I'm not perfect, none of us are. I guess I just forgot a little bit…when we're scared of something, we need to talk about it. I'm sure there are going to be times when one of us needs the other to take the lead…as the oldest, I feel like I _have _to be strong and take the lead on a continuous basis-"

"You don't have to…" Astor wiped his eyes and took a step back. "I can handle things if I have to, but how am I supposed to do that if you don't tell me?" She nodded her head and quickly ran her hand through his hair.

"I know you can, and you did a good job here with Astrid, so I'm proud of you. You're right though, we need to communicate more as a team, otherwise we're going to run into trouble. So please, next time you're feeling angry about something, scared, or anything…talk to me first, please? I'm your big sister, that's what I'm here for. I know you want to be independent as much as I do, but that won't change the fact that it's still my job to look after you." Astor smiled at her, then looked over to Martin, who was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. Aveline glanced back with a grin and quickly rose to her feet.

"I'll go along with all that, but I'm guessing we don't get to kill Martin right now?" Martin rolled his eyes. This was the deal she made with him, that she'd let him get back home after he helped her reach Astor. "Sorry I took the teleporter. How did you know I left anyway?" She smirked with pride and dusted off her shoulders. Mia and Michael wouldn't say anything, but she knew Kuno had been with them all day, and was raised on an honesty-based policy, so she got him to spill the beans.

"What more can I say? I know my siblings. Now get Astrid back to the house, I still have something I want to discuss with Martin…" Martin raised an eyebrow at her and Astor hurried to do what she said. She folded her arms and waited for him to leave before saying anything. "Turn off the videos for now Martin."

"Why? What are you going to do?" She couldn't say it on the videos, she didn't want his remaining family to hear him communicating with her. After all, they wanted her dead. She wasn't too sure about Martin. "There's something about you I need to figure out, it's not only Astor I'm irritated with. So unless you want the entire world knowing what I now know about you, I suggest turning off the videos. _Cuz_."

Martin waited a few seconds before turning the corner of his lip up into a smirk. "Hardball, huh? Fine…" She angled her head towards the right, tapping her index finger gently on her arm.

"I believe the term is blackmail." She watched him pull a small remote from his pocket and strike the button, her collar light went off and he re-pocketed the remote. "Very good…" She moved towards him, resisting the urges to tackle him and beat him into a pulp. "You seem like a very difficult man to talk to, or to get to know, and you said something that struck a chord in me…you want freedom, you want to be saved, but the question is, what are you doing to reach that?" He scoffed and folded his arms.

"Really? This is what you want to discuss? No discussion about freeing your family?"

"Spare me the bullshit Martin, if you wanted to kill them, you would have done it by now." He raised an eyebrow. She narrowed her eyes, growling lowly. She could strike him now and be done with this, but he _was _still considered family, somewhat. The bloodline was very separate at this point. Her arm snapped into the direction of Eric's body and her voice raised an octave higher. "What we just saw was your uncle trying to kill Astrid, which is exactly what someone that wants to claim the throne and kill the royal family is going to do."

"Are you saying that's not what I want to do, Aveline?"

"I'm saying that's what your family wants, now I don't know about you…" She started to circle him like a shark, studying his posture. He was very narrow, his shoulders were broadened and raised, his legs were spaced a foot apart, and his expression was stoic. This was difficult for her to read him, he didn't display any signs of trying to escape, or signs of nervousness. "What of Mala. You said you took out your anger on her, what did your family do to you? To her?" His jaw tightened and his eyes clenched shut. She smirked at the wrinkle appearing between his eyes.

"None of your business."

"I'm past the point of compassion. Whatever is in your past is the reason my family's lives are in danger. You think this is a game, but I'm not _playing_ a game. What it feels more like is I'm playing your fucking hit man…and you need to tell me what all of this is about, because either way I have to go and get my family away from _your_ sick, twisted, and fucked up family! So one avenue is going to severely piss me off more, and the other I may wind up being a little more understanding to." Martin slowly opened his eyes, revealing a touch of sorrow and rage. She put her hands to her hips and held her glare on him. "Now I have my theories, I have my thoughts, and I'm not asking you to work with me, because I know you're not going to. I'm only asking you to at least tell me what the hell is going on, so that maybe, just _maybe_ I can figure out a way to help you."

"I don't need your help…"

"Oh? No, you need help, you need _someone's_ help…and we're not leaving here until you tell me what I want to know, because god help me, I'm ticked off enough as it is and you don't want to see me any angrier than I am now."

He shifted his eyes away from hers, then gradually moved them towards his Uncle's body.

"When it comes to Mala, shortly after we started this crap I tried to break up with her. I told her I was sorry for the shit I've put her through and that I didn't want her to go through it anymore. She's too nice, too innocent to be continually abused by my anger or my family. Well my family decided to force us back together, claiming that I'd be 'severely punished' if I didn't take her back…"

Aveline was astonished by the revelation, as shocking as it was, she needed to calmly absorb it. Inside, she was torn on what to do with him, torn on how to 'save' him. If there was a way to save his soul from going to hell, maybe there would be. Moments before hanging up with Ander and her dad, Ander gave her one last tidbit, stating Martin told him something about her saving the 'prince'. Ander wasn't a Prince, he wasn't even a complete Noble yet. Was Martin referring to himself? "So you set this whole thing up so I could kill you? Is that it?" He rolled his eyes and glanced back at her.

"My father set this whole thing up. This was _his_ fucking plan, not mine. I was forced to lead it, forced to take the blame, so it's _my_ name that's going down in history. The only thing is, he allowed me to give a 'personal spin' to the hostage situation. So I did…"

"And that was?"

"Keep you and your brother alive, going on this big old scavenger hunt, and eventually put the Lamont family into extermination. This is my escape, Aveline. This is my freedom. I told my family to let them stay alive unless you failed to meet the deadline, but even then I wasn't sure that I would let them do anything…I only want them to _stop living!_" He lowered his arms, puffing his chest in and out. His nostrils flared out while his eyes grew large and angry. "My family has done many things to me, to my brother, and they'll never let me go. Hell, they won't even let _Mala_ go. I can't leave their sight, and if I don't do the things they want, I'm going to either be killed, or worse…"

"What's worse than death?"

"Many things can be worse than death, Aveline…even after all of this, do you think I'm going to be able to last any longer? God's forgotten me, my family hates me, the whole world fucking hates me right now. So no, I'm not going to live after this, it's better that you kill me in the long run!" He moved his teleporter and snapped the button on. Aveline's mouth fell open as he continually pressed the button. "Now I'm _done_ talking, and I'm going back to my shows, because those are the only things that keep me calm. I'm already more upset than I wanted to be, so thank you very much!"

"Martin…" Within seconds he was gone, leaving her alone in the room with a dead body. She bowed her head and exhaled. It would have been better had she not opened her big mouth to begin with. Her body ached and her heart was racing from all the excitement. "I guess I should get back home…it's been a rough day, anyway."

She could relax at least, knowing that Astor wasn't going to go rushing off without her knowing. Of course, knowing a bit more about Martin's status made her a little uncertain of her next move. Even with all of the stress piling up, one thing was certain, she hoped the next clue would point to her mother, because that was someone she was dearly missing, and the one person that Aveline absolutely needed to talk to.

* * *

Your thoughts?

watch?v=L49QeN9BxtM&feature=related


	27. One Step Closer

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 27 (One Step Closer)

The next morning, Aveline was elated to read the clue for the next person she needed to grab, it seemed clear-cut that it was her mom! She dressed in her suit, but kept the giant dress off, only replacing it with some protective garments. She wasn't underestimating the cunningness of the Lamont family, not after what happened the other day. If indeed anyone tried anything, she was sure to tear them limb from limb this time around.

She stared down at the paper on the end table beside her bed with and slowly grinned at the note. _A fatal robbery took your grandmother, I never thought I'd see this place again in my life, but here I'm trapped within the vault. You have five hours to find me._ "Don't worry mom, I'll get you out of there." There was nothing she wouldn't do to get her mom now that she knew where the woman was. All of the strenuous training would pay off, but the only question that remained was: How was she supposed to get into the vault? Likely the bank teller would know the combination.

Astor opened up the bedroom door and Aveline quickly looked over to him, "Hey Sis, are you ready to start up?" The stress over what those cousins had done was slowly wearing off, but she couldn't let it stop her. "You're sure about where we're going?"

"Yes." She knew the story of her grandmother's death, Cece had told it to her several times over the years. She knew the location of the bank as w well. "Can't say I'm surprised they'd put mom there." Being there must be terrifying for her, as it would be forcing her to relive those memories of losing her own mother. She also had to wonder about the Lamont's choosing the bank as a place to put her mother. After all, Cece lost her mother there, why not set it up to where Aveline would lose her mother at the very same bank? This, however, was not in Aveline's plan for the day. "We'll just have to get the bank teller to open the vault and get our mom out, assuming she _is_ locked up in there. Let's just hope the Lamonts don't try anything cheap…" She had to admit, she _was_ a little afraid of what the family might try next. It was a fear she hadn't even considered until her run in with Brad.

"I'll be right there, sis. If anything happens, I'll catch it if you don't." She smiled at her brother and moved over, hugging him. Fortunately he was able to keep her calm during all of this. "What do you think should happen after this? I mean after we save Mom, there's still Noak left to save, right? It sucks that everyone else in the world can see what's going on with everybody, but we can't."

"Actually we can, we just haven't had the time." Astor raised an eyebrow. She was shocked he wasn't aware that they could technically view everyone! How else was Estelle able to tell what was going on? She led him out into the living room and flipped on the television, revealing the same screen shown to them when Martin first started everything. The only difference was the captives left were Gunther, Ander, Frankie, Karin, and Cece. Noak, on the other hand, was _running_? "What the hell? Astor, look at Noak…"

Noak's camera was moving swift through grass, and on occasion looking back at some girl chasing him. The girl had long brown hair, large round glasses, and a freckled face. She was shout at Noak through some sort of book she was holding onto. "Oh my god, that's Noak's ex!" The first girl Noak ever dated was a young girl that practiced witchcraft, much like her mother. Granted, her mother was strict about not using magic without there being a good enough reason. Her mom was a strange and tall woman named Dakota, she never did much, and never revealed anything of her past to anyone. This was what Noak said of her when dating the woman's daughter. "So…Quinn has her?"

"No…" Noak's camera shifted to a woman in front of him. The woman was covered in blood and screaming like a banshee. Aveline's eyebrows rose and Astor's hand cupped over his mouth. Astrid walked into the room and froze upon seeing the screen. Aveline and Astor looked back at her as she pointed to the screen.

"That's Erin! Eric's wife! What was she thinking taking Noak to Quinn's place?" From what she understood, Dakota and her daughter were able to truly practice the art of black magic. This included certain spells that allowed for controversial issues as time travel, which was a black art in these times, considering nobody wanted to tamper with the past. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if it was black magic that had a hand in creating those soul-disks, or the other controversial inventions. "Quinn's going to kill them! Maybe not Noak, but probably Erin…"

"Great." This troubled her deeply, and she found herself torn between two options. She really wanted to see her mom, but she knew Noak needed rescue. "I want to save Mom. I miss her, I want to be with Mom, but then there's Noak here…I don't know what to do…"

"Seems Noak's in more of an urgent state," Astor said under his breath. They all knew Noak was more than capable of taking care of himself, but it would be bad to risk his life based off a judgment. "I don't see any landmarks that I recognize." Astrid moved closer to the screen and knelt down, narrowing her gaze intensely. After a few seconds, she nodded and looked back over her shoulder.

"Noak's at the school. I can recognize the big track field."

"I wonder what Erin did to piss off his ex."

"Probably decided to take him to her house, that might be enough to do it." Although they'd been there for a few days now, Quinn hadn't been chasing them, so she was allowing the stay. Apparently something happened to change this fact.

"All right. Astor, first things first, we go collect Noak…then get mom." Astor agreed and Aveline quickly hurried to the teleporter on the table. She didn't care if this was against Martin's rules or not, she wasn't going to let anything happen to Ander's siblings.

Within minutes they appeared directly in the middle of the track field, amazed by how good the teleportation device was becoming. Aveline scanned her eyes over to the voices yelling in the air. She could see Noak and Quinn, but Erin was missing. Noak looked over to them, his eyes wide and bloodshot. "Would you stop her before she makes _me_ disappear!"

"Quinn!" Aveline barked out. The girl stopped and looked over to her, humming as Noak rushed over to Aveline and Astor. During the time Noak dated Quinn, which was about three years ago, Aveline and Ander had spent some time getting to know this girl. As crazy as she was, she only needed someone to talk to her with a little more patience and effort than Noak was giving. "Quinn, what's the problem?" Quinn closed her mother's spell book and crossed her arms.

"That woman brought Noak into my house, just randomly, and then they started fighting. They ruined the antique dolls that I have!" Aveline sighed and slowly shook her head, letting the irritation subside so she could hold onto her patience. Quinn was a collector of dolls, so it made sense for her to be angry over it. "I used a spell in my mom's book here, sent that woman to your castle to be locked up."

"That's specific, how'd you know to send her there?"

"I just took the current events, that's all…" Quinn walked over to the group and pointed an accusing finger at Noak. "_He_ wrecked the most priceless doll in my collection! You know those antique Barbie dolls? The _very _first one ever made?"

"Oh no, don't tell me…"

"He crushed it!" She screamed angrily and Noak quickly ducked behind Aveline. Aveline put her hand to her forehead and slowly shook her head. "It was in mint condition and everything! I was going to wait until 2050 or 2060 to sell it on the 100th anniversary! That thing could be worth a lot by then!"

"Oh Quinn, you and your mother practice witchcraft. Dark magic…you can _restore_ the Barbie doll…" Quinn bowed her head and started muttering. Aveline smiled at the girl and put her hand to her shoulder, patting it gently. "I know you're just quick to anger, and it makes sense. After all, considering who your mother is and the friends your mother had back in high school…it makes sense…"

"Noak told you all that?" Quinn's voice fell flat and her eyes narrowed. Noak shifted further behind Aveline. She sighed heavily and nodded her head, choosing honesty over dishonesty. "What _else_ did he tell you?"

"That your mother's best friend led some group in high school and killed a guy." Quinn gasped and pointed a finger up to her.

"Kelly had a bad upbringing, and the guy that died…it was justified. That man was a womanizer, a stalker, and he tried to assault one of their friends. Mom says Kelly just needed someone to care about her…" That was really sounding familiar, like Martin seemed like he could change his ways if he had someone who cared for him.

"Oh yeah…and whatever happened to her?"

"…She took her own life in prison…" Aveline winced and slowly led the group off the track field. It was time to get her home, then to pay a visit to the bank and retrieve her mother. Quinn looked over to Noak with a sad smile. "Sorry about the chase, I just…I act before I think, you know."

After reaching Quinn's house, her mother was waiting on the front lawn with her hands at her hips. Dakota's long brown hair fell over her shoulders and swept her waist. She was wearing a long sleeved purple shirt with a floral design and chiffon sleeves. Her green eyes were narrow and her lips flat. Quinn smiled nervously at her mother.

Dakota pointed to the door and Quinn groaned, knowing full well how much trouble she was in. "Your room _now_, Quinn. We will talk about your taking my book without asking."

"Sorry mom…"

"You know better." Aveline watched Quinn depart into the home and looked up as Dakota turned a smile her way. "Thank you for bringing my daughter home. I didn't even know that woman had been staying in my house, much less near my daughter. Had I known, I would never have allowed her to be in my home, I don't know what I'd do with myself if I ever lost Quinn." Dakota tapped her fingers on her forehead and heaved a heavy sigh, pausing for a brief second before gazing sincerely into Aveline's eyes. "Listen, if you ever need anything…let me know. I owe you a favor."

"I'll keep that in mind." She smiled graciously and waved as Dakota moved back into the house. What favor could Dakota really do for her? She rubbed her chin and looked down to Astor, smirking subtly. Maybe Dakota could help Martin out somehow with that black magic of hers. She'd have to think about this, but for now, there were more imperative matters at stake. "All right Astor, and Noak…let's go get mom. We've taken enough of a detour here."

* * *

You've met Dakota, the sorcerer who will be important later on. (Which isn't too long as there aren't that many chapters left, hence why I'm updating daily now). Dakota will lead us into the next and final installment. Anyhow, what did you think of this chapter?


	28. Showdown at the Bank

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 28 (Showdown at the Bank)

The bank was a tall and quiet building with barred doors. When inside, it felt cold and empty. The only one there was a teller hiding behind a glass cubicle. She had short brown hair and a fearful expression, it seemed she knew something was up. "Hey miss, my mom's trapped in your vault, I think…" She paused and looked down to Astor, embarrassed and astonished. "Never thought I'd walk into a bank and say _that_." Astor laughed.

"Please help me," the teller said. "I can't move. They bound me in chains."

"What!" Aveline rushed over to the teller and looked at her feet. The floor had tiny chains bolted into it and attached to cuffs around the teller's ankles. Her hands were also chained to the desk. "Okay, don't worry, we'll get you out of these binds-"

"Not so fast," a voice remarked. Her gaze shot over to the restrooms where a man and a woman were slowly walking from. Their faces were twisted into wide smirks, and their deadly eyes pierced into her soul. It didn't take much for her to figure them as Maxwell and Heather Lamont. "We would much prefer you not touch the teller. See, the rules of _our_ game requires a little more detail. You can't touch anyone else or be assisted by anyone. Just you, and us."

"Two against one?" Aveline smirked and wagged her eyebrows, feeling overly confident. She wasn't going to be outnumbered or overpowered with that. "Sounds fair to me."

"Oh? We do work best with our hands, Princess." The two moved their hands from their backs and revealed their palms, showing off ruby crystals strapped to their hands. Their thumbs curled beneath the crystals and pressed into a button. Her heart stopped when not only did the crystals begin to open, but fire shot out of them. She cursed and quickly dove to the side, pulling Astor and Noak to the ground with her. She moved to her hands and knees, breathing heavily and glaring at the two. Maxwell smirked and narrowed his eyes. "Do you still feel confident?"

"Okay…I see what you're up to…let's take this outside."

"Fair enough."

Outside, she could deal with them a lot better than inside. Not only that, but she knew the length those flamethrowers could go. She only needed to stay fifteen feet away from them at all times. Astor helped her to her feet and frowned. "Do you think you can do it, sis?" She sucked in a deep breath and quickly nodded.

"I know I can…this is a long distance matchup, not a close one." The two Lamonts made their way outside. Aveline thumbed her nose and removed her bow from the quiver strapped on her back. "Stay in here with Noak, and don't touch a thing." She narrowed her eyes and turned her attention to an emergency exit door at the back of the building. Did they have a ladder to the roof? Most buildings had ladders in the back. She could ask the teller, but then again, she wasn't allowed assistance. "I got this."

She bolted out the emergency exit and looked from her left to her right, grinning when she spotted a steel latter attached to the far corner of the building. With a grunt, she jumped up to the rungs about five feet above her and began her climb to the top. After arriving there, she removed an arrow from her quiver and walked to the edge of the roof, aiming towards the unsuspecting Lamonts. _"Let's see, I can either take a cheap shot and shoot them now, or I can warn them."_ She clicked her tongue and let out a loud exclamation, startling the two. "I'm in no mood for games, Lamont!" The two turned to her, their mouths agape.

"What the hell are you doing up there!" Heather screamed out. "Why aren't you down here on the ground?"

"No one specified that I couldn't use the environment to my advantage. That's what I like best." Enraged, Heather lifted her right hand to start the flamethrower. The fire nearly reached the top, making Aveline jump back a bit. She quickly aimed the arrow into the center of the massive blast and fired it off. What followed was an ear piercing scream, Aveline's arrow had shot through the crystal and through Heather's hand. Max's eyes widened at his wife and he quickly began running around the building. She smirked and trained her arrow onto the ladder, waiting as she listened to the sound of heavy feet slamming onto the iron bars. "Come on Max, you really think I don't know what you're up to?"

The second his upper torso appeared into her view, his face twisted in shock and she fired off an arrow into his sternum. He let out a loud grunt and released the sides of the ladder, falling backwards. "Damn you, Princess!" His scream ended with a loud clattering sound, so she hurried over to see what was going on. Maxwell landed directly in the dumpster. She chuckled and started to reach for another arrow.

"That gives a new meaning to taking out the trash, don't you think?" Max groaned and slowly opened his eyes as Heather rounded the corner, screaming out his name. Her right hand was dangling at her side with blood trickling from the wound and dripping onto the street. "Look you two, all I want is to see my mother, do you _really _think I have the time to play your little 'game'. It's bad enough I have to play Martin's game! Which, by the way, what did you guys do to him?" She paused as the two glared up at her. It was probably best that she didn't know, the fire in her soul was already raging with enough intensity, so there wasn't any point to further aggravate the situation. "Second thought, don't tell me."

"You _bitch!"_ Heather screamed. The woman quickly moved to the ladder and started to climb it with one hand. Max called out for her not to do so, as she might set off the flamethrower. The woman ignored him and pulled her body up. Aveline quickly trained an arrow onto her, narrowing her eyes onto her target. Much to her surprise, however, the flamethrower was triggered, and an explosion sent Heather flying against the building on the other side of the alley. Aveline's jaw dropped when she saw Heather's hand sailing through the air. "Maxwell! My hand! Oh god, my body, it hurts…"

Upon seeing Heather's body, a wave of disgust hit her. The woman was burnt from head to toe and painted with her own blood. She wanted to give her a mercy kill, but after hearing the things Martin said his family had done, she wasn't sure if mercy was a good option. _"The best I can do right now is pray his soul doesn't go to hell with his family…because they're already hellish enough…" _

Aveline took a slight step back and stared at the now destroyed ladder, her lips pursed together and her eyes rolled towards the sky. _"Looks like I need another way down. Thanks for nothing, Heather." _She moved her gaze to Max, who was eyeing his wife, too shocked to move. Heather had finally entered the pain stage and was screaming at the top of her lungs, giving Aveline a massive headache. "One thing you two dumbasses forget…environment is my specialty. I may be weak when it comes to close quarters, and the only reason Martin's cousins almost got me was because that yard was a closed off area. When we're in an open area, I'm much more proficient!" Max turned his glare to her and quickly flipped her off.

"Screw you!" Not taking too kindly to the insult, she quickly moved her bow and arrow onto him and fired an arrow through his middle finger. Max screamed as his finger shot through the air. "What the hell! God!"

"No, you want to know something? Here's something for you…God hasn't forgotten Martin like he thinks, no, not at all." Max raised an eyebrow as she reached for a new arrow and slowly brought it to the bow, positioning it dead center. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "No, because here's the deal…I'm God's answer to Martin's problems. I know it sounds conceited, but I guess since I have to play the hero, I'll be the hero even to my enemy. For when two enemies have a _mutual_ enemy…" She carefully pulled the string back, opening her right eye and training the arrow for Max's forehead. "That's when common ground can be found."

"You-" She wasn't interested in hearing his arguments or curses any longer. Without hesitation, she released the arrow, grimacing as it sliced through Max's head. "You can stay right there in the dumpster with the trash, like you belong. Someone will probably come by shortly…"

"Max!" Heather screamed out, still positioned against the wall, and no longer able to move. Blood was pooling around her and her face was drenched with tears. Aveline's heart clenched in her chest, once more feeling nauseous at the smell of blood. She grabbed another arrow, aimed it for Heather, and shot it into the woman's heart. Heather gasped out, then her head fell downwards. Aveline closed her eyes and slowly lowered her bow.

"It's better that you not have to die painfully…I don't have the heart to make anyone suffer like that." When she looked back to the ladder, she could see that it was only melted off at five feet off the ground, leaving her ample space to climb down and jump off. "Great, now that I've dealt with those monsters, I need to get my mom…"

When she climbed down and went inside the bank, she saw Astor had already cut off the chains and shackles around the teller's wrists and ankles. She was glad to see this already taken care of, so they could move on much faster. "You okay sis?" Astor asked. "How did it go?"

"Well I can't say it was pleasant. I'm still antsy over all these lives…it has to be done though."

"Yeah…anyway, the teller's going to open the vault now."

"Great." Tears sprang to her eyes as the woman led them towards the vault in the back of the bank. She watched with growing impatience as the woman slowly unlocked the door. "Come on, hurry…" The teller looked to her and she shot an apologetic look at the woman. "Sorry I'm just…it's my mom."

A full minute passed before the woman was able to open the door. Standing in the middle of the vault was Cece, her cheeks red and puffy, stained with streaks of tears. Aveline practically jumped for joy as she ran and threw her arms around her mom. Cece hugged her back, holding her tightly. "My baby, you're okay…"

"Oh Mom, I've needed to see you so much." She willingly let go of her emotions and started to quietly sob as Cece kissed the top of her head. She was not letting go of her mother, not for anything. "It's too hard…"

"You're doing fine baby. You're doing just fine…I'm proud of you, okay? I love you, sweetie. I love you."

"I love you too." _Finally_ she could start truly feeling happy again. All that was left were Ander and her father, as well as the Bransford parents, but she was most concerned about her father and boyfriend. The quest was almost finished, she could feel it. "I was scared I wouldn't see you again, Mom." She buried her face into her mom's chest, still hugging her tight. She felt Astor wrap his arms around them, crying as well.

There was a lot to catch up on, but now Aveline had a greater confidence and determination. She was concerned about whether her mother had eaten anything or not, and wanted to make sure when they got back, that her mom was checked over for _any_ injuries at all. She wouldn't settle for less than the best for her mom.

Unfortunately, she had no idea how she was going to deal with Martin when it was time to face off with him. This was something she needed some time to figure out, and time was something she was not certain that she had.

* * *

Cece's rescued! What a battle that was, what were your thoughts? Still, Gunther and Ander are left, as are Frankie and Karin. Martin, Aunt Erin, Chuck and Ethel are the remaining Lamonts. Erin being the worst of all of em, and yet, all are now at the castle. Prepare for intensity to come.


	29. Angel of Death

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 29 (Angel of Death)

Martin flipped off the screen after he saw Aveline reunite with her mother, he was both thrilled and upset. He'd just witnessed he death of his second uncle and aunt, and wasn't sure where Aunt Erin was now. It was premature, Aveline's going to help Noak, but he understood it couldn't be helped.

Beside him on the couch was a Bible that Aveline told him to use, she instructed him of the location and of the passages to read. He frankly already believed in everything, but what truly terrified him was thinking it was far too late for him. If Aveline was attempting to save his soul, then surely it was far too late to do so. He moved his eyes up from the book, groaning as all the passages he read over the night threw his mind into various directions. He'd read about doubts, about forgiveness and prayer, as well as many other things that he didn't have the ability to question. He wanted to pray, but the question remained, would God even hear him? What were the chances of such a thing happening? He already felt a darkening sense of death's grip at his throat, strangling the life from him. Death would be better than the hell he was living in now, but he didn't want to do the deed himself. He didn't have the capability.

He feared Aveline knew too much now, so much that she wouldn't actually kill him when it was time for their fight. This was a major issue. "Martin?" He froze at the sound of Aunt Erin's voice and quickly turned around, staring at her with wide eyes. This couldn't be! She couldn't be here! His heart began racing as the woman's fiery glare burned into him. He stood up and took a slight step backwards, studying her nails with growing anxiety. Those nails were like claws to him. He could feel them already burning his body, raking him like a gardener rakes the leaves in the fall. Chills ran down his body as the woman slowly walked towards him. "How come you killed my son, Martin? Also, where the hell is Mala?" Mala was gone? His heart sank as he looked towards the room Mala had gone into a day or two ago. He hadn't seen her since, or even thought to check up on her, only because he wanted to give her space. "That little witch transported me into one of those cells. Of course, Chuck released me…" He pocketed his hands, still eyeing her nails fearfully. Right, Chuck was down in the lowest dungeon floor, guarding Frankie and Karin. "Good thing…"

"Why is that?"

"Because apparently you let your little girlfriend slip away!" She slapped him across the face, flooring him. He clenched his eyes shut as several dark memories flashed back through his mind. His chest throbbed as his ribs began to crack against his heart's incessant beating. His cheek burned, bleeding from the contact of her pointed nails digging through his flesh. "Go retrieve the fucking girl, Martin. You know she's our responsibility." He honestly didn't care, he hadn't wanted Mala to be involved in this mess anyway! "And I think you know what I'll do to you if you let her away again. I don't care if your father is dead, or if the mafia did kill your mother, you're still a part of this family and you have to do what _we _tell you to, like it or not."

"She doesn't need to be stuck here, leave her be…" Not like this, he didn't want to subject Mala to Erin's wrath. He put his hand to his cheek, shivering as his eyes moved to the bible on the couch. _"Why can't you just end it, God? Why? Please just do something…get me out of this hellhole!" _He felt Erin grab his thighs, then dig her claws in. Searing pain shot through him as tears burned his eyes and a scream left his lips. Flashbacks of prior assaults from his aunt scalded his brain, torturing him out of any chance of fighting her. "Okay! Okay I'll get her back, just stop it please Erin." Why was Mala so important to this family? He just didn't get it. Sure, Brustrum forced her to be with them, but she should be free to do whatever the hell she wanted, didn't she? It couldn't be helped, he had to bring Mala back otherwise they both would be in serious trouble. He'd hoped that Erin would have still been in Chicago, far away from him, but _no_, that witch just _had_ to summon her back here!

"That's what I like to hear, Marty. Good boy…"

Mala stretched her arms out with a loud yawn as she woke with the morning light shining on her face. She was sleeping in the bedroom that belonged to Odo, who still hadn't returned from wherever he'd gone off to. However, the prior night, Art _had_ managed to get ahold of him. The man said he'd come back in after everything was over. He felt safer with his family at the moment, and was too scared to go back with the risk that Martin might come around.

For the first time, Mala wasn't afraid of Martin. Art let her have a relaxing bath the night before, and set some fresh steamed towels for her to dry off with. It was the most treatment she'd been given in her entire life, and she didn't have to fear Martin's family coming after her! She slowly sat up and looked to the door, it was closed as she always preferred doors to be. Over the years with Martin's family, she learned the benefit of closed doors, it signaled her to be prepared when she heard the doorknobs jiggle. She smiled and closed her eyes, breathing out softly. "Thank you for a quiet night of sleep…"

She got up from the bed and moved over to the door, pushing it open and letting the brightness of the day fall upon her. The scent of freshly baked cinnamon drifted to her nostrils and she immediately charged into the kitchen where Art was setting down a plate of cinnamon rolls. "Oh my god, you made those?" Art looked up at her with a subtle smirk and nodded his head.

"With a little help from the Pillsbury Doughboy. We had a chat and decided you might enjoy the cream cheese." She excitedly picked one up, laughing as some icing slid down her finger and onto the plate. The roll was hot to the touch, fresh from the oven. She caught Art watching her and blushed a bit as she took a bite of the roll. The warm bread released steam like a geyser as her teeth separated it, and the cream cheese icing felt like heaven on her tongue. "Do you like it? If not, I'm going to have to have a talk with the Pillsbury guy." She tried to speak, but waited as her mouth was too full, and swallowed the lump of food.

"It's great, Art." She turned her lips up sweetly and hugged him with one arm. "You can tell Pillsbury that there's no trouble at all." He laughed heartily and picked up a roll of his own.

"Fantastic!" He moved over to the couch and Mala hurried beside him. She enjoyed the company and was a little unsure if she should act on the feelings in her heart that were pulling her towards him. She was starting to trust him and really wanted to see where this relationship could go. "So did you have a good sleep?" Art put his arm on the top of the couch and looked towards her with subtle smile. She took a bite of the roll and nodded her head.

"It was a good sleep. I dreamt about my mom, though." Art raised an eyebrow. She set the plate on the coffee table and took a deep breath. The dream she had was a strange one, it was like her mom was looking at her through a transparent veil and shouting something that only came out in words. "I think Mom may be trying to communicate with me…"

"What would you want to say to her?"

"I don't know…" She didn't know _what_ to think about her mother anymore, to be honest. The realization that her mother had not willingly given her up was startling enough. "I guess maybe I'd ask her what drove her to insanity in her last days. Why she didn't try to fight for me. Why she let the Lamont family keep me."

"Maybe she didn't know." He took a bite of his roll and set the plate beside hers. "You could always ask her…" She raised an eyebrow and started to open her mouth to say something, but there was no response that came to her mind. "I have one of those soul-disk things, Mala. I know you have questions for your mother, and I'm sure she could answer every one of them."

"I don't know, Art." She liked the thought of it, and it was tempting, due to her desires to know more about the woman. "She tried to kill the King, if we brought her back…"

"Ah, she tried to kill both the King and Mr. Bransford because she believed she lost it all. At least, that's what I would think." Mala's heart thundered under her ribs and her eyes dipped down to her feet. "From what it sounds like regarding her, she didn't know where you were, thought her sister and parents were dead, and blamed everything on King Brustrum. When I studied up on the history of that whole ordeal, it just seemed like she cracked, like she couldn't take it any longer."

"You really think so?"

"You never know, and then you have that spirit that's been following you…it could very well be her. The disk provides the best opportunity to learn. I wouldn't recommend its use too much, but this is one of those rare exceptions that seems justifiable. I know how important it is for you to know your mother."

"I guess, but I'd just have to think about it…"

Several minutes later, Art was taking a shower, leaving Mala alone in the apartment. She was sitting in Art's room, staring at the soul-disk on his desk. A lump had formed in her throat and a sense of urgency rippled through her body. _"I don't know if I should…but I really want to see her…I want to know the answers to my questions."_ She started to reach for the device, but stopped, thinking hard about what she was about to do. What would she accomplish? What was the benefit of this? What if Tabitha told her that she really _didn't_ want her when she was born? What if Tabitha didn't care about her?

These doubts in her mind kept her from pushing forward, but she simply couldn't resist the magnetic pull. One prick of the finger and she could bring Tabitha back. She heard a noise in the back area of the apartment, possibly Art finishing up the shower, so she paid no mind to it.

Mala took a courageous breath and reached for the disk. Soon the disk was activated and she spoke the name of her mother, then closed her eyes and set the disk down. "I guess we'll see if something happens…" She was too scared of what may come, so she told herself it was crucial to be brave.

"Mala? I thought you were here." Her heart stopped and her eyes widened, Martin's voice fell upon her ears like a poison. She turned to him and gasped at his angered, sweaty face. He was trembling, his cheek bleeding, and his pants stained with blood. "My family wants you back, Mala. You can't just run off like that…"

"Martin, please, just leave me alone."

"I can't just do that Mala, if I do that, we're fucked. I'm sorry."

"Then grow a backbone and tell your family to suck it!" Martin's lips formed a circle as her fists clenched in rage. She took a powerful step forward, surprising herself as she stood up to him. "I'm tired of dealing with you, and your whole family, Martin! I'm with Art now! I don't care about you or your family, got it? I want to be _free_."

"Don't we _all_?" He grabbed her wrist and yanked her back, causing her to yell out. She heard Art scream out from the bathroom, then he appeared in his red bathrobe, charging at Martin like a bull. Martin growled and narrowed his eyes. "You act like I have a goddamn choice!"

"You do have a choice, but now it's too late," replied a mature woman's voice. Everyone froze in place and slowly looked back, standing in front of the soul disk was a tall woman with short cut brown hair. She had a black leotard and narrow eyes. Her wrists bore the traditional wrist blades. She reached up and felt of her hair, growling as her eyes flicked to the ceiling. "You give me back my wrist blades, but you don't give me my hair? Come on!" She clenched her eyes shut, and her brown hair began to grow long once more, brushing at her heels. She took a deep breath and smirked. "Much better. Now Martin Lamont, if you please…take your hands _off_ my daughter!"

"Shit!" Martin released Mala and stepped back, trembling as the woman stepped forward. Mala eyed her with quivering lips, whimpering as she searched within for something to say to her. Tabitha narrowed her eyes and folded her arms over.

"Mala, do you realize you just used the soul disk to bring back an _earthbound_ ghost?" Earthbound? What did that mean then, that she was different than typical spirits? Tabitha slanted her eyes and growled. "In other words you just did what the soul-disks were created for…I can stay here until my unfinished work is _finished_."

"U-Unfinished? Please tell me that doesn't mean killing the king," Mala pleaded. Tabitha scoffed and closed her eyes.

"I was the royal protector, it was my job to protect the royal family. My job to protect Frankie's family…I failed when Brustrum…" She clenched her fists and started to growl dangerously. "We'll talk later Mala sweetie, but I will tell you my unfinished work. I _wanted_ to find you." Mala gasped. She moved her hands to her chest and watched as Martin took a slow step backwards. "I had a feeling it was the Lamont family that took you, but I had no proof…but I swore that I would find you, and that I would singlehandedly bring the Lamont family to_ extinction!"_

Martin screamed as Tabitha grabbed his neck and slammed him against the wall. She brought her free blade to his forehead, eyeing him like prey. "Please!" Martin clenched his eyes shut, trembling. "I know what I deserve, but please, I didn't want it to be like this."

"You had two paths Martin. Had you never been involved with your family…when you let my daughter go the first time, had you strayed from your family and _not_ been a slave to them…I would skip over you as the angel of death does. However…since you're still their slave, the only way to free you now, you must perish just as they will…for ever hurting my baby, and for holding my sister, my brother-in-law, and their children…for holding the royal family…I _will_ _kill_ the Lamont family and redeem my last moments on earth."

Tabitha threw Martin out of the room, then kicked him hard in the side, sending him rolling into the living room. Mala quickly followed her mother out of the room and watched with shock as Tabitha began a slow walk to Martin. He moved onto hands and knees and looked up at her, tears in his eyes. "I'm a very _pissed off_ ghost, Martin. Also, being earthbound, I've just been given flesh and can remain here much longer than an hour…until my work is complete. Do you know what that means, Martin? It means…you just entered a game of cat and mouse, and I'm the cat. Guess who the mouse is."

Martin slowly rose to his feet and looked to the door, shivering. "You're letting me run?" Tabitha shrugged her shoulders.

"I need to talk to my daughter, but mark my words Martin…I'm going come after you and your family. I will play with them as a cat plays with her toy." Tabitha took a lunging step forward, shouting for Martin to run. He wasted no time in fleeing the apartment. Tabitha's eyes glinted in the light and her smirk curled upwards. "Lamonts…your death has arrived…"

* * *

Tabitha's here! We've seen what Aunt Erin's like, what pain Martin goes through. To him the death to come might be glorified, he has no one to live for any longer, but his wish was to see his family die first so that he would know their threat wouldn't exist any longer. Let's see what Tabitha does, and let me know your observations here.


	30. Extinction

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 30 (Extinction)

Mala felt numb standing there, staring at her mother. She wanted to scream, she wanted to shout, she wanted to tell this woman many things. Tabitha looked at her with a motherly smile, her face softening. "After all these years," Tabitha whispered, "I get to see you. I know this is frightening to you, but you have me here now…there are so many things I've wanted to tell you." Tears sprang in Mala's eyes as her chest throbbed with a dull ache. "Most importantly though, I need you to know…" Tabitha walked over to her, gazing into her eyes. "I loved you."

She was overcome in her mother's eyes, locked in place. "You never meant to give me up? Why did you try and kill Mr. Bransford and King Gunther?" Tabitha looked over to the couch and motioned her over. Mala didn't hesitate to follow her guidance and sit down with her. When she felt her mother's hand over hers, a sob shot from her lips. Her mother's touch was warm and gentle, much like that feeling she felt when the mist shrouded her the other day.

"In my final days, I will admit that I lost myself. I lost who I was and what I was searching for…I never once believed you were gone, but it was becoming harder and harder to find you. I turned to revenge, I killed the man who hurt me, and I admit that it should have stopped at that." Mala leaned forward as her mother gently touched her fingertips to her right cheek. She felt a static feeling connecting her mother's touch. Her body trembled and her tears were beginning to intensify. "When I was in the cells I realized that it _was_ the Lamont family that must have you, but I couldn't do anything. When they hung me…I swore I would not cross over until I found you, until that family was gone, and you were brought back to my sister and her family. I want you to meet them…"

"This is a lot to take in. You don't know how I've felt over the years, being told you didn't want me. Not to mention, I always thought no one would want someone like me." Mala closed her eyes as her stomach flipped over, she sobbed quietly and wiped her eyes, trying to stop. No matter how hard she fought, she couldn't cease her tears or quell the stabbing pangs in her chest. "The things that family did to me, it wasn't all Martin. They never let me forget how I was born or conceived."

Art sat beside her and put his hand over hers, she took a sharp breath and listened to her mother's soft voice. "I would never hate you. You were my baby either way it's looked at. It would also seem that you have a man that would like to be with you despite anything…" Mala opened her eyes and looked to Art with a sad smile, she put her head to his shoulder and exhaled. Tabitha reached around her, hugging her. "I'm sorry I wasn't around for you. I wanted to be. I love you, baby. Will you please talk to the Bransford family?"

"I-I will…" She wanted to, they were her family in the long run. Emotions were like fireworks inside of her, she had finally gotten what she wanted, time to talk with her mother. "I don't feel strong, Mom…I've always felt weak up to now."

"You're not weak, and confidence would come easy to you, but you just have to see that. You're a very strong, beautiful, and capable woman." Tabitha put her hands to her cheek and lifted her head up towards her mother's gaze. Tabitha leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Mala's lips opened in a gasp and her heart shot from her chest. "My brown eyed angel, I'll always love you."

"Mom…" She leaned against her mother's chest and wrapped her arms around her. "I wish you could stay forever…"

"I know sweetheart, but I can't. This is my last chance to not only make things right, but to make sure you're safe. You won't be safe as long as you're endangered by that family."

"You really have more than an hour?"

"Yes." How was this possible? She didn't understand those soul-disks at all! Tabitha slowly rose to her feet and closed exhaled softly. "I was already here as a spirit, so all that machine did was to give me flesh. This is so that I can carry out my final work before crossing over." She was beginning to understand, but it was almost a frightening concept. "I need to protect you, and I need to help the royal family. Currently, it would appear they're all at the castle…"

"Yes, although Martin _does_ have a side house, but he's never been over there." Tabitha hummed for a second and slowly reached out to her. Mala gazed at her hand with uncertainty, what would happen if she took her mom's hand? She placed her hand in Tabitha's, then was slowly led outside. "Mom, what are we doing?" Tabitha smiled at her and glanced over her shoulder at Art, still standing in the doorway.

"Would you stay here and wait for my daughter?" He nodded and Tabitha looked to Mala with a grin. "Tell me, have you ever flown?"

She chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. "On a plane, yes." Ghosts often had a few supernatural abilities, or so she heard. If this was the case, she really wasn't sure she wanted to go flying through the air. "What's going to happen?"

"We're flying over to that castle." Mala's eyes widened as her body lifted off the pavement. Within seconds, she was flying against the wind with her mother. It was thrilling, but at the same time, she was practically crushing her mother's hand so as not to fall. "I should let you know that I'm not going to take mercy on the Lamont family."

"That's fine…" She didn't _want_ anything _too_ violent to happen, but at this point, she couldn't bring herself to care about what happened to them. She turned her lips down and gazed at the ground flying below. The wind was cool against her face, her hair was whipping wildly in the air. "One thing though…Martin's been tortured his whole life, so if you have to kill him too…be quick on him."

"I'll try to make it painless, but if you want my perspective as a mother, he deserves a bit more."

"I know…"

As they approached the castle, Mala felt a growing sense of peace in the realization that soon she would never have to worry again or fear for her life. She couldn't believe the dream, that things were almost over. "My time as a spirit, I've learned where they're keeping the King and the Bransfords. It's time to free them…"

The two landed on the balcony and Mala looked over to a camera in the corner with arched eyebrows. "Momma, a camera…" Tabitha looked over and huffed. "We might be on camera. The Lamont family has a lot of cameras."

"All right, I got this." Tabitha walked closer to the camera and smiled slightly. "Hello Sviederbach, you are not dreaming, it is I…Tabitha Nilsine. I've come to liberate my daughter as well as our King. Your days of terror will end…I don't expect forgiveness, I know killing King Brustrum was bad, even if he did assault me. I'm here to do what my job description entails, neutralize the threat that is disturbing the peace of this country. I will _not_ go easy on the Lamont family. That is, the remaining members."

Tabitha had no fear, but why should a ghost fear anything? She marched into the castle, overcome by a wave of nostalgia. She extended her arms and breathed in a heavy dose of air for the first time. "So much better than being a disembodied spirit."

"Momma, what happens after this? Where will you go?" Tabitha looked to Mala with a subtle smile.

"My soul will be redeemed." She lifted her eyes towards the ceiling, thanking the Lord above for this opportunity. She heard the sound of screams coming from the room over and raised an eyebrow as Mala shouted out that the screams belonged to Martin. The two ran towards the room and froze at the sight they saw.

Martin was sprawled on the ground as both Erin and his grand-uncle Chuck tortured him. Erin was clawing his thighs and groin with while Chuck was slowly pushing down on Martin's neck with his foot. "I'm sorry!" Martin screamed out. "Damn it, get off me please stop! You're-" He gagged out and clenched his fists on the carpet below him.

"I gave you one simple task," Erin growled menacingly, "How fucking difficult was it to bring the wench back here?" Mala hid behind Tabitha. The woman put her hand to her churning stomach and tried to swallow the bile rising up. These were the repercussions for having flesh again, those nauseating feelings came sweeping back, but so did the fire inside of her. She was not letting this fly.

"I'd stop doing that, and run, if I were you." The Lamonts froze in place and looked up at her. Erin cursed and ordered them to run while Martin lost consciousness. Erin bolted towards another room while Tabitha charged for the elder man struggling to flee. She heard him call out to his wife in another room and smirked as the elder came rushing in with a gun. _"Guns won't help you now."_

Ethel Lamont aimed her pistol towards Tabitha and fired off six bullets. Mala screamed as Tabitha's body jerked from each shot, the final one striking her forehead and tilting her head back. She collapsed in a dramatic fashion as Mala fell by her side and began weeping. Ethel walked over with a camera recording to the world, and she faced it at Tabitha's body, laughing wildly. "Sviederbach, this is your attempted savior. The attempted savior of your royal family…Tabitha Nilsine is-" Tabitha's body began shaking, startling Ethel into silence. Mala froze and put her hands to her mother's arm, questioning what was happening.

Tabitha's lips curled into a wide smirk as the bullets in her body slowly popped out of her wounds and rolled across the floor. "I'm already _dead_." Without a second of hesitation, Tabitha swept her wrist blade in the air, cutting through Ethel's right knee. The woman screamed and dropped to the ground while Tabitha flew into the air and pounced above her. She pulled her fist back, pointing her blade down at the trembling elder. "Ethel dear, you just made your fatal mistake, God will tell you where to go." The woman screamed as Tabitha slammed her blade down into her chest, then twisted it into her heart.

"Ethel!" Chuck screamed. Tabitha winced as the blood shot onto her left face. It had been so long since she had to fight someone, but it was a good feeling that she wasn't rusty. Tabitha moved to her feet and glared over her right shoulder at the elder man.

"You're next, old man." Chuck's eyes widened as she lifted her leg and slammed the heel of her foot into his chest, throwing him into the wall. Before he struck the wall, she was upon him, swinging the side of her arm back against his chest and forcing him into the wall with extra force. He gasped out for air. Tabitha narrowed her eyes at the sound of bones crushing inside him. "I'm the zombie you don't want to meet, Lamont. This is what you get for harboring my daughter, this is what you get for trying to take out the royal family. You're done!" She grabbed his shirt and swept him through the air as though he were a simple cloth. She released him into the air above her, extended her wrist blades high above her head and leapt upwards.

"No!" Right as his body connected with the tips of her blades, she swept her arms outwards, slicing him from head to toe. His body landed on the ground in two halves. Tabitha closed her eyes and let out a whispered prayer for the two souls.

"Now Erin, you're pretty good at running, it seems. My only regret is that I didn't kill you twenty years ago." Tabitha walked into the other room where Erin had run and put her hands to her hips, narrowing her eyes. "Had I known you were going to be a threat to everyone in this country, I would have done it. Now quit your hiding, because one thing is certain…" She slowly made her way to the bed, crouched down and put her hands to the bottom, then flipped it over, revealing Erin beneath. "You don't hide from a ghost."

"Tabitha!" Erin jumped up and laughed nervously as she fixed her hair. "It's been a long time, hasn't it? I remember all those years ago…so nostalgic." Tabitha narrowed her eyes, holding back a dangerous growl.

"I don't find it in good nostalgia." Years ago when the assassination attempt the Lamonts tried on Brustrum happened, Tabitha had her run-in with Erin. The woman was cruel, cold, and calculating. The fight had been lost through some cheap shots. "Looks like we're on equal ground now…I'm dead, and none of your cheap shots are going to work on me…You may as well hand your soul over now."

"Screw that, I'd rather fight." Tabitha rolled her eyes and dodged a frontal kick by Erin. She twisted her body back and swept her left leg through the air, slamming it into Erin's side. Erin crashed into a nearby dresser, slamming her head hard against one of the handles.

Scoffing, Tabitha slowly walked over and grabbed Erin by the hair. "Gutsy move, fighting a ghost…" Erin's eyes shot open as Tabitha yanked her off the ground, then shoved her out of the bedroom. The woman started crawling on the floor, but Tabitha lunged forward, jumping through the air and kicking out into Erin's back. A loud snapping sound zapped past Tabitha's ears like music that she'd not heard in such a long time. She leaned forward, grasping Erin's hair and pulling the woman's head up. Erin was breathing heavily and had blood trickling down the front of her face. "I'm not here to torture you, as much as you deserve torture. I'm not here for _revenge_, though I am going to kill you because you put your hands on my daughter at some point of time…I'm here to send you to _hell_. Or well, God will do that himself." She put the edge of her blade towards Erin's neck, glaring as the woman opened her eyes and stared at her with pure malice.

"I don't understand. You say you're saving the royal family, but you tried to destroy them twenty years ago!"

"I lost myself back then, I admit it. When you've gone through the _shit_ I have, and you think everyone you've ever cared about is dead, then it's a struggle _not_ to go insane."

"Shit…"

"Precisely." With one swift move, showing no remorse, Tabitha slashed her blade across Erin's throat. She slammed the woman's head on the ground and quickly rose to her feet. "…One left…" She slowly walked over to Martin, his eyes were open now and he was breathing heavily, gazing up at her with a defeated gaze. She bent on one knee and stared down at him, resting her arm on her raised leg. "I feel sorry for you, that this was the family you got stuck with. You had a chance, as I said."

"I know that," Martin replied weakly. "I-I prayed for the first time in a long time…maybe he hasn't forgotten me."

"He hasn't. I don't think you'll be going to hell, but you realize…I still have to take your life." Martin closed his eyes and Tabitha started to move the side of her wrist blade to his neck. It was her duty to take out the Lamont family, and every one that was involved with each other. Since Martin had not strayed or made an effort to stray from his family, since he had not kept Mala from them, and since he actually took Mala back _after_ having broken up with her, he had to die. "In life, you have two paths, two fates. A simple twist can change your destiny, your future…because you stayed slave to your family _before_ I was brought back for this, you must die with them. Had you changed and strayed away from them, and had you _not_ done what you did to my daughter, I might not be doing this to you right now."

"I know, but it's harder than you think. I couldn't just get away from them without…you know…"

"Yes. That is why this is a mercy kill…no matter how much _I_ hate you, it doesn't matter. What happens with you is between you and God. Mala requested I not tear you apart like I just did the rest, so I won't."

"Tell Mala…I'm so sorry…Tell Aveline and her family, I'm sorry for putting them through this…Please, end it. I hate this prison…I would rather die than suffer the pain alone!"

Tabitha pressed her lips firmly together, looking over to Mala, who was watching with tears in her eyes. She cleared her throat and returned her gaze to Martin. "Goodbye Martin, may God embrace you in his arms…" She lifted her blade up into the air as Martin began to close his eyes. She said one final prayer, then brought the blade down, crashing through his neck, taking his life in an instant.

It was the one kill she felt a hint of sorrow towards, but perhaps now, he would be freed. With him, the Lamont family was gone.

* * *

Reason for the daily updates is because I have two chapters left of this. What did you think of this chapter? Your observations?


	31. Happily Ever After?

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

* * *

Chapter 31 (Happily Ever After?)

Mala gazed at her mother with a proud, but worried heart. She wanted to be strong like her some day, swift and just, but the bloodshed was nauseating. Now the only question was how would the blood and bodies be removed from here? She turned her mournful gaze to Martin's body, unable to push away the feeling of guilt. She could have done something, she _should_ have done _something!_ Tears stung her eyes as Tabitha looked her way. "Why? Why did he have to die? I know he did bad things, _terrible_ things, but…_why?"_

The doors burst open, stunning Mala as she turned to see Aveline rushing in with Astor and Cece. Aveline's wide eyes fell onto Martin and she slowly cupped her mouth. "No! I could have helped him! I'm too late…" Aveline's eyes drifted towards Tabitha, freezing as even Cece tensed. "Oh my god, you're…"

"I did what was necessary," Tabitha replied with a quiet voice. "He had an opportunity to turn from them when he broke up with my daughter. He could have turned away, but lacked motivation or ability. He became trapped, death was the only answer." Aveline clenched her fist and bowed her head, she was grateful that it was all over, or for the most part, the Lamonts were no longer a threat. However, she was far too pissed that a ghost killed Martin at the _worst_ possible time!

"That _can't_ be! I can't accept that! I was trying to save him too! He could have had a life! He could have been free." She felt her mother's hand on her shoulder and scoffed at the ghost. Tabitha closed her eyes and dipped her head downward.

"I am sorry Princess Aveline, my initial task is to rescue the royal family. Not to save the Lamont. If you wish to save Martin, there may be a way. Perhaps consulting with the sorcerer you met…" Aveline raised an eyebrow and looked over to Mala. Oracle? Did she mean Dakota? How could Dakota help her, and since _when_ did she ever turn to black magic? What good would magic do, and why turn to it? Wasn't there another way to save his soul? There had to be. "Either way, your father and your lover are trapped downstairs. My sister and brother in law as well…" Mala gasped and quickly grabbed Tabitha's arm, asking her if it was okay to see them. Tabitha smiled warmly at her and slowly nodded her head. "Like me, they have looked for you. Maybe you can be with your family for the first time."

Mala cupped her hand over her racing heart and looked to the door that Tabitha had been heading towards. Tears ran down her cheeks as the hope of finally being with people who _cared_ about her delighted her mind. "Do you really think they want anything to do with me, Mom?" Already doubts were entering her mind, and quickly what was to follow were the thoughts of where the Bransford family lived, in America. Her face dropped and her hands lowered to her side. "T-They live in America, I want to be with Art…"

"You're fine," Aveline grumbled. The princess rose up from kneeling beside Martin's body and wiped her brow with her arm. "Mr. and Mrs. Bransford are moving to Sviederbach, they're being reinstated as a noble family." Mala's lips turned up and her excitement once more spiked. "When exactly did Martin break up with you, Mala? Why was this such a 'pivotal' moment?" Mala raised an eyebrow and gestured towards Martin's body, remembering all the attacks the family imposed upon him. The sexual abuse, the physical and emotional abuse, everything was an act to control him.

"Martin had been through so much, and a lot of it was his trying to protect his brother, or even me…" Aveline raised an eyebrow, placing her hands to her hips. Mala walked beside Martin's body and knelt beside him. "It was a loveless relationship we had, but we had a mutual understanding that his family was a massive danger. This whole hunt he formed, it was more his _Aunt's_ idea, put into action by his _Dad_. He knew his father wanted to kidnap everyone, and when tasked with giving his own 'personal touch', he decided to make a 'hunt' out of it…" She paused for a breath while the others gazed sadly at the bodies on the floor. Her eyes clenched shut and her lips formed a small grimace. "He knew you would be able to kill them, doing so in order to save your family, and he…didn't see any escape other than death…from his family."

"So that explains all this bullshit he just put us through." Aveline crossed her arms as Mala slowly pushed down Martin's eyelids. She rose to her feet, taking a heavy breath and meeting the Princess's eyes.

"Yes. Shortly after the death of Aunt Regina, just a few days ago, he broke up with me. He wanted to set me free and actually took me to the apartment, telling me to go to Art." When this happened, she'd been very scared and confused, it took her an hour of wandering the campus before she even decided to go to Art's place, but she never made it.

"What happened?"

"His father caught wind of it, and Aunt Erin was actually threatening to come down here." She brushed her arm and slowly shook her head. Martin forgot Chuck and Ethel had been in the castle, so when he did what he did, they figured it out. "He just wanted to set me free, so I could be safe from his family. Turns out, they forced him to come back after me. I wandered about the campus, and by the time I decided to go back, he was there. Maybe if I cared a bit more, I could have done something to change that, I could have found a way for him to escape his family…he tried to do that for me…"

Aveline swept her arm through the air "He should have told me all of this. I could have helped. I'm royalty, I know ways of protection, _use me_, damn it!"

"He knew you'd try to do something. He never had anything to live for, when his brother died…it wasn't like he had anyone or anything left, I wasn't going to be that person, obviously." Maybe he needed someone who would have cared about him, someone to show him that there was a way to truly be free. "Say you managed to get through to him, to help him, what would it have accomplished? His family would be dead, not that it would be a _bad_ thing. I am _not_ leaving Art, Martin would be alone for the rest of his life fighting off flashbacks. Mom might have had a point, death might have been more merciful…"

"Death should never be the true answer…" Aveline looked to Tabitha and thinned her lips. "Tabitha, I do appreciate what you've done. I do. I just…I _wish_ you would have held off. That's not the point now, my dad and my boyfriend are still in those cells, as are Frankie and Karin, so let's go…" Tabitha smirked and kicked open the door, then guided her hand through the doorway.

"I thought you'd never ask."

As they made their way through the dungeons, Mala couldn't help but feel a sense of terror in the corridors. She hated these places, never wanted to be in any kind of dungeon. When they made it to the King's cell, Tabitha wasted no time freeing the two captives. Aveline and Cece rushed in, hugging both Gunther and Ander before ending up in their respective love's arms. Gunther looked from his wife and smiled at Tabitha. "How can I thank you? I'm not sure I'm used to this side of you…"

"It's nothing, I just want to cross over."

"I understand. Perhaps I'll put a good word for you in Parliament, pardoning you of your past crimes."

"I don't need a posthumous honor award, King Hessenheffer. I only wish to be free from this realm and pass on to the next." Mala felt a straining pain in her chest, realizing that her mother truly couldn't stay. There was so much she wanted to do with the woman, and yet, so little time, it just wasn't fair! "I am glad you are safe, my King." Tabitha knelt onto one knee, bowing for him. Mala shifted her eyes towards the small television screen at the back corner of the cell, the collars were slowly being removed from the necks of those that had been wearing them. She was happy about this, relieved that the royal family were truly safe.

Ander stepped before Mala, smiling as he met her eyes, "So Mala. What do you want to do after all this, cousin? Mom and Dad are going to be happy to see you. Maybe we can all go out to Sviederbach's best steakhouse."

"I'd like that. I think you can make a date of it with Aveline and I'll ask Art!" She was more than happy to _finally_ mix with them. When she looked to her mother, she was overjoyed to see her mom smiling down at her, her eyes lit up with pleasure. Aveline stepped next to Art and reached up, kissing his jaw. Mala wagged her eyebrows and rubbed her chin. "So, now that it's official you two are together, I take it that all the suitors out there can stop, right?"

"Oh yes, thank god!" Aveline chimed. Her parents laughed and Ander rubbed the back of his head, grinning triumphantly. "Of course we'll have to talk more about all this later, _first_ we need to get Frankie and Karin!" The final step, then this process would all be over and peace would be _restored_.

Once they descended into the darker, lower dungeon level, they could hear Frankie and Karin chatting behind one of the cell doors. It was not long before Tabitha busted the door open and gazed in at the surprised couple. "T-Tabby?" Karin asked astonishingly. Tabitha reached forward and pulled Karin into a deep hug.

"I'm glad you're safe, Karin…and Frankie…how long I've waited to find you, to find my daughter." Mala blushed as she eyed the couple with her nervous gaze. She hid behind her mother once they looked towards her, and found herself unwittingly back in view as Tabitha stepped towards the side. She waved her fingers at them and felt her mom's hands on her shoulders. "This is Mala, my baby, all grown up…"

Karin moved before her and lifted her hands to her face, gazing happily into her eyes. "You look so much like your mother, it's remarkable…" The woman glanced back towards her sister and slowly inhaled. "Tabitha…"

"Please take care of her." Mala quickly looked towards her mother, feeling the cry of her heart as the dreadful moment of her mother's departure neared. She couldn't say goodbye, not when she just met the woman. "I've found my daughter, I've rescued you, saved the royal family…my soul has been redeemed, my work finished…I can finally go home."

"I don't want you to leave, mom!" Mala rushed forward, hugging her mother's waist and shedding her tears once more. She felt her arms wrap around her and closed her eyes as her mother gently kissed the top of her head. "Please…it's like I just met you…"

"Your aunt and her family will be all the family you need. You know I can't be here any longer. However…" Tabitha knelt to one knee, gazing still into Mala's eyes and wiping her tears away with her thumb. The woman's smile warmed her shivering heart. "I will _always_ be with you. I love you, my angel, and nothing can ever change that. Now, you can finally be happy, and that is all that matters to me. That you are happy, Sviederbach is safe again, and everyone can be free."

"I love you too, Mom…" She looked back to Karin and Frankie with a smile, then back to Aveline, who was arm in arm with Ander. "Yeah, I think we can all be happy from here on. Finally…we can be happy…"

Tabitha hugged her tight and the others all watched with sorrowful expressions as the woman's soul began to fade. No longer was her spirit needed to be earthbound, and the soul disc's time was up. Within seconds, Tabitha's ghost was gone and silence filled the air. She felt Karin and Frankie behind her and turned as they hugged her.

There was nothing to fear any longer. Sviederbach was free, but still, it just didn't feel like a true happy end for everyone. Aveline still couldn't shake the anger that she could have done something to help Martin, but it would take a bit of soul searching before she could be certain of her next task. Somehow, she was almost certain she'd have to call upon that favor that the sorcerer Dakota owed her.

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Well there's one more chapter as you know, she's going to go visit Dakota. This will lead to the final installment. As for this chapter, seems everything's okay, let me know your thoughts. Next chapter will be the last of the 2nd installment


	32. The Last Save

The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N: This chapter marks the end of Hunt, but the start of another tale. So it's is CRUCIAL you keep in mind the third part of this series. "Dare to Love" will be the third and final part of what I am now calling the "Sviederbach Chronicles". Read the chapter and you will see what happens next. Also it's a good idea to check out "Hidden Beneath the Mask" but I can just paste segments of Kelly for you. "Dare to Love" is a sequel/spinoff to both Hunt, and Mask.

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Chapter 32 (The Last Save)

Aveline glared at the round target on the tree, an arrow pierced the dead center with three others. Two days had passed since the end of the hunt, the country was quiet once more. Beside her, hacking away on a tree stump was Astor, practicing with his sword. Behind them on the back patio, Gunther and Cece watched them from a couple porch chairs. This was a 'hands-off' session, meaning Aveline and Astor had to do this on their own. Frankie and Karin were watching as well, standing behind the two and talking with Ander.

She was extremely happy that she didn't have to fend off anymore suitors, once Frankie and Karin moved to Sviederbach and were instated as a noble family, Aveline could choose him. Officially, the two were now betrothed, but much to her pleasure they didn't have to worry about stepping up to rule for some time. She wanted her father to remain the ruler for the remaining duration of his rule.

She lowered her bow and moved her hand up to her neck, grimacing as she thought of Martin. Everyone else she'd saved, everyone else was able to move on with their lives and be happy. She swore to rescue him once she realized he was just trapped. _"There has to be something I could do…"_ She listened to the sound of Astor's blade cutting through wood and slowly looked towards him, smiling slightly at her brother. She couldn't be prouder of him, his growth, but she worried that the tragedies that occurred would lay thick across his mind. What could she truly do about it? He'd be fine, their siblings were fine. Michael, Mia, and Kuno were as rambunctious as usual, as though nothing happened before.

Rocky and Karla were doing their best in their own trainings to grow stronger and to be more alert of danger. Wilbert was alive, but unfortunately had been crippled due to the car accident and now walked with a cane with his right leg. He had an operation coming up in a few weeks to try and begin the process of recovery. If anything, the doctors could get his leg back into functioning order. The family still mourned Rocky's husband, but they weren't letting the death sway them. They were punching back stronger than ever.

Aveline dipped her eyes towards the ground, grimacing in disgust at a worm crawling across the grass. Her pride wouldn't allow her to be in peace. Tabitha's words played back through her mind, haunting her as they had been for the last few days. Could witchcraft really save Martin? He _deserved_ a free chance at life. He deserved to live in peace from his family. Her eyebrows lifted and her fingers graced her forehead. _"Do I dare to involve myself in magic? I would be the first of the royal family in years…"_

Sorcery wasn't _uncommon_ in this day and age, but most wizards tended to stay out of the public eye. She knew Dakota from Noak dating her daughter, Quinn. Dakota was the world's most powerful wizard family, much more powerful than those Russo family wizards had been years before. The only other witch she knew of was Dakota's friend Chloe, whom she kept good tabs on. It was thought that Chloe might be behind the mass pregnancy outbreak at one of the prisons in America, but no one had any proof of it. _"Dakota does owe me a favor…I can't believe I'm about to seriously talk to a sorcerer…"_

Thirty minutes later, having grabbed her trusty teleportation device, the Princess made it to Dakota's front lawn. She gazed up anxiously at the house and ran her fingers through her hair. What would the woman say of her request? Magic couldn't bring back the dead, but couldn't there be _anything_ it would do? Either she'd get her hopes up or she'd be told there was nothing to be done to save his soul. For all she knew, wherever he was in the afterlife, he might be forever tormented by his family. This wasn't going to fly, not at all.

When she made it to the door and rang the bell, it took Dakota nearly five minutes to answer. The woman was wearing a purple shirt, blue jeans, and a dirty apron. Her eyebrows rose and lips parted slightly. "Aveline, I figured you might be coming by…"

"Oh? How did you know? Magic?" The woman narrowed her eyes and folded her forearms at the waist.

"No. It was just a hunch. Anyway, come in, I was just making dinner actually." Aveline graciously accepted the offer and hurried inside, following close behind Dakota. The smell of a warm casserole drifted to her nostrils, enticing her. She closed her eyes and breathed in the aroma of berries. "Anyway, I put my magic away many, many years ago. That spell book you saw my daughter with the other day? I do not believe in using magic without responsibility. I have a strict rule regarding it, because any use of witchcraft can have dangerous results if not handled with care, you know…"

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense." She didn't mean to offend the woman, it was shocking that Dakota didn't believe in the use of magic. Then again, a sorcerer of her stature didn't _need_ to rely on magic. "You know, you're well known around the world…even more powerful than the Russo wizard."

"Yes…but they're the reason I don't use my magic unless needed." She raised an eyebrow and followed Dakota into the kitchen. There was a pot of soup bubbling on the stove, freshly pulled casserole resting on the counter, and the table was set and ready. She didn't mean to interrupt dinner at all. Now, aside from having interrupted dinner, she felt a bit concerned as to why the Russo family was the reason Dakota didn't practice magic. Did she do something wrong? It was well known that in this day and age, wizards, obviously existing, had their own 'council'. Alex Russo was the head of this council, taking over for her brother that died nearly sixteen years ago. It was said that he died of a very powerful fever.

"Did the Russo family take away your powers or something?"

"No, of course not." Dakota finished serving the food on plates and putting the soup into bowls, creating a space on the table for Aveline. "Have a seat, you may as well eat dinner too while you're here."

"Thank you." She took a seat at the rectangular table, her back towards the door. She clasped her hands together over the table and rested her chin on her knuckles. "If you don't mind me asking…and I'm sorry for prying…how is the Russo family involved with you? I mean, I'm obviously not here about them, I'm just curious." Dakota raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the doorway, Quinn was nowhere in sight. She breathed in sharply and closed her eyes.

"Justin Russo is Quinn's father. She's not to know of him, however."

"Why not?" Dakota's lips formed a thin line and frown lines deepened around her mouth. Immediately Aveline felt as if she were intruding and wished to take back her words, but it was far too late.

"He got a job as a prison guard and worked as a guard at a woman's prison back in mid-2014. My daughter was born in 2015. Do the math. Chloe used her spells to take my remaining years and put them onto her so that I could be free to raise my daughter…Justin was immediately stripped of his powers during that act, and I…" Dakota clenched her eyes and closed her fists. "I put a hex on him afterwards…I gave him that fever that killed him." Dakota cleared her throat and sat at the head of the table, glancing off towards the doorway. "Moving on to more important bits, such as, your reason for visiting? I'm glad that you and your family are safe."

"Yeah…" She looked towards the kitchen door leading out to the backyard. Above the doorframe was a picture of seven younger girls, one of which was Dakota. The girls looked happy, except the one in the middle, the redhead with bright blue eyes. She was frowning at the camera, her eyebrows meshed together, and her shoulders had slumped downwards. "Is that Kelly?"

"Hm?" Dakota glanced to the photo and nodded, smiling briskly. "Yes, Kelly, my best friend back then. The blonde next to us is Chloe. The other girls are Tiffany, Megan, Rebecca, and Suzy. In 2012 we committed a crime against a womanizer, Spencer Walsh, and turned ourselves in for it…back then, Kelly just didn't see a future for herself…" Dakota frowned and slowly shook her head. "She reminds me so much of that Lamont boy, Martin. I think they would get along well if they knew each other."

"You said she…died in prison?" Aveline felt a part of her heart sink and studied the girl. She wished to know her story, but didn't want to bring up any bad memories. Not that she hadn't already, of course. She didn't know a whole lot about the murder, but she wasn't surprised that some of the girls were out of prison. "They're all free from prison, huh?"

"For the most part, yes…everyone freed under different circumstances. Rebecca and Suzy, however…" They were the two girls on the end of the photo, one on each side. Suzy had a grin from ear to ear, a bottle of vodka in hand, and bright eyes shaded by her brown hair. Rebecca was rubbing the side of her nose, had bloodshot eyes, and was forcing a smile at the camera. "Kelly had a rough life. Her father was an abusive drunk, a halfway decent father when sober, and her Uncle was no better. Her parents died when the boat they bought one day caught on fire in the lake. Dakota and I used spells to keep her safe, but when we went to prison, she decided because we were all going to go to separate prisons…she took her life…"

"I'm so sorry. I didn't even mean to bring up all these memories!"

"You're fine, it is time for dinner anyhow. Quinn should be here, she must be in her room…" Dakota rose back from the table, but just as she did, the ground began to quake. The woman's eyes widened as she stumbled over and grabbed the table to stabilize herself. Aveline grabbed the table and looked over her shoulder, concerned that an earthquake just happened. The woman growled as the quake dissipated. "That was no earthquake…"

"What was it then?" Dakota removed her apron and closed her eyes, calling for her daughter. Her voice bellowed with greater intensity than the earthquake, beckoning Quinn in no time flat. The girl shuffled nervously into the room, smiling innocently while clutching the gold plated spell book in her arms. Dakota put her hands to her hips and tapped her foot as Quinn met her eyes.

"H-Hi mommy."

"Quinn. What did I tell you about the next time you used that book without my permission?"

"Uh…" Quinn looked to the book and slowly lowered it, sighing heavily. "Grounded. Two weeks, no television or internet." Dakota extended her hand and Quinn carefully moved the book to her, rolling her eyes. "Sorry Momma."

"We'll discuss the terms of your punishment later. First, sit down and eat your supper." Aveline watched Quinn move to the table and lifted her eyebrows, smiling slightly at the mother and daughter. "Using the spells in this book are dangerous and you don't know what could result. You could get hurt if you use the wrong spell."

"I feel like I need to learn, though, Momma." Dakota put her hand to Quinn's should, smiling warmly at her daughter.

"You will baby, but you have to let me teach you that stuff. I don't even let Chloe practice magic without reason, and she's a grown adult. _You_ are my daughter, I have to teach you responsibility."

"I know, I know…" Quinn spooned her soup and brought her temple down onto her hand. Her eyes drifted over to Aveline and her brows rose. "What brings you here, Aveline?" She spooned her casserole and slowly brought it to her mouth. She was beginning to feel uncertain whether or not Dakota would help her, but she was still hoping to convince her. After chewing and swallowing, she moved her eyes from the food, towards Dakota, watching the woman take her seat. The book rested gently beside her plate.

"Actually, I was here to talk about that magic…" Dakota raised an eyebrow as Aveline pointed her fork to the book. "I know you don't like to use it, but…I was wondering if there was a way you could help me. You know, Martin…" Quinn cleared her throat and straightened her back. Dakota stopped her fork midway to her mouth and stared back at Aveline with an arched brow.

"Magic can't revive the dead, right Momma? Martin's dead, magic can't bring him back. Why would you want to, though?"

"I _have_ to do something for him." Aveline bowed her head and slowly closed her hands. The guilt was eating away at her. She had to trust that she could help him too. "It's just my pride. I have to save him too. I know there's a way, but he was abused possibly as badly or worse as Kelly." Dakota shook her head, humming as she chewed her food.

"Judging by the way he was talking about his family on those cameras and the radios, I'd say his family abused him far worse than Kelly's family ever did. Her dad was bad, but there were some things Len just would never allow. Drunken bastard he may be, but when he was a sober man, you could tell he was a father. Never let any man near his daughter that he didn't trust. Now his brother was a pedophile, but the man never dared touch Kelly in a sensual manner, the one time he tried, Len beat the man to an unrecognizable state."

"Damn…"

"Besides the point, what do you want done with Martin? I cannot bring him back to life, if that's what you're asking. Also, there is no changing of the past. You can change the future, anybody can change the future, but the past is set in stone. In other words, even if I used time travel to send you back and stop Tabitha from taking his life, he would still die one way or another. Maybe his aunt would have succeeded in killing him. Who knows."

Her gut churned inside, forcing a wave of nausea over her. She couldn't take losing someone that she was sure she could have saved. He deserved a happy ending too! "But it can't be _impossible_ to save him!" Dakota frowned as Aveline slowly lowered her dining utensils. "There has to be a way. Magic or something…I could have saved his soul, I know I could have. I could have freed him from his family, somehow."

"As Tabitha said, he had opportunity. He just didn't have anyone or anything to hold him back." Aveline looked back to her food, picked up her fork and began to idly twirling it in the casserole.

"This is really good food, by the way…" Dakota seemed to study her for a second, smiling slightly as she turned her gaze towards the photo on the wall.

"Thank you. There may be _something_ I can do." Immediately she lit up, her energy returning as hope filled her chest. She bounced her gaze to Dakota, grinning from ear to ear.

"Really?"

"Yes, but as I teach my daughter all the time…Magic_ does_ have consequences." What consequences would there be? She started to feel her nerves returning as she thought about Dakota's words. It was impossible to bring back the dead, but if there was something that could save Martin, then what was it? "I cannot revive him and I cannot change the past, however it is very possible for him to change _his_ future."

"What?"

"There was a crossroad, was there not?" Crossroads? What did this mean, exactly? She gave Dakota a perplexed look and Quinn slowly looked up at her mother. "Think back to that time Tabitha brought up, when Martin broke up with Mala…" She raised an eyebrow as Dakota flattened her palms on the table for a moment, then pulled her book closer to her. She began flipping through the pages, studying them intensely. "I would have to land it precisely, and do everything exactly right, but I could…"

"What are you thinking?" If Martin's future was changed, did that mean it would impact her future as well? It could very well impact everyone. "How different would whatever it is you're thinking be?"

"What I'm thinking is simple, inserting something to care about. Something that could make him turn away from his family and push him to make the right decision. Should it work, he could be saved, but it would change a lot of stuff…quite possibly even change the outcome of what happens to his family as a whole."

"There's not much future to change, to be honest. It's only been a couple of days…"

"Exactly, so that's not so much the part I'd be worried about. The thing is, I'm considering bringing Kelly to the future. I could change her future as well, save her life while you save Martin's…bringing those two together…but in order to do that, it has to be entirely specific."

"Uh…no offense, but how would you do that? You can't bring back the dead, right? So you're going to the past to bring her into a time she doesn't exist?"

"Exactly, it won't interfere because she has no current self here. Both subjects are already _deceased_, but both can still live if they make the right choices. I don't want to remember Kelly dying in prison, and I'm sure you don't want to feel like you failed Martin somehow…"

"Yeah…" The ramifications of time travel, she never really understood them all that much. Fortunately there wasn't much to _risk_, she didn't think so anyway. She didn't understand why bringing a girl from the past would change Martin's future, though. "So say you bring Kelly here, or your past self does, whichever way you're going to do that…"

"I'd have to convince my prior self to do that. However I learned time travel from the assistant of the man whose son we killed…I will have to convince my past self to get that guy to move Kelly into the future. Hopefully in the exact coordinates as where Martin may be passing. If he sees her appear, surely he'll stop and ask questions, and knowing how Kelly was, she'll latch onto him in all the confusion. He may or may not shrug her off and continue with what he was doing. It depends on how much he cares about someone flung into the future."

"I see…" Martin _did_ appear to have some heart, otherwise she wouldn't give a damn about saving the guy. Surely if someone just appeared out of nowhere, he would stop and ask them about it. "Either the dorm apartments or the main entrance for the university…but how would bringing her here impact him at all?"

"There is a possibility that the things they have in common will pull them closer. She'll care for him because of those mutual bonds, there is that chance. They say love can break any curse, and his family is the curse we're talking about. So…"

Aveline watched Dakota move her finger along one of the pages in the book, moving her eyes along with the finger. She was skeptical of what could happen, but hopeful it would end well. She wouldn't know either way, likely, as the future would definitely be different if Martin left his family. "You're aiming to get him to fall in love…" Dakota smirked and shifted her gaze up to Aveline.

"I may throw in an enchantment spell to push things in that direction. It's possible to make everything else 'fall by the wayside' in the instance they meet. Maybe not a 'love at first sight' spell, but definitely one where he can forget what he was supposed to do. It would wear off after a few hours." Aveline's eyebrows shot up and her lip curled into a smirk. She could _definitely_ see the intrigue in this magic. How many times throughout the ages have women wanted a man to pay attention to them for at least five seconds? She stifled a laugh and quickly cleared her throat.

"Sounds good…If he focuses on her for a bit…"

"Then she becomes a part of his life and he a part of hers. If he dares to care about her, dares to fall in love with someone, then he may have someone to motivate him into leaving his family…someone, something, to live for, and Kelly would have that as well." She was liking the sound of this, the more she heard of it. It was a surefire way to ensure Martin might make the choice to separate from them. Granted, it could be dangerous, but she knew herself well enough to know she'd keep flushing out the family _as long as_ Martin talked to her.

"If he has someone to live for, then that means he'll fight to get away from his family, right? He'll change his future…he can be saved! He can have his happy ending too, maybe…"

"We shall see. If he dares to love her, and vice versa, then their souls stand a chance of being saved. We may not be able to change the past, but they certainly can change their future." Dakota lifted her eyes from the book, as though questioning Aveline.

Aveline wasn't truly certain if this was what she wanted to do, if it was the right answer, but if Martin stood a chance of being saved, then she would have rescued everyone. Sure, sometimes you can't save them all, but he deserves a second chance at life and a chance at _freedom_. She swallowed a bite of food and slowly smiled at the wizard. "Do it. Please."

"Okay…"

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I will send all my readers a message with the link of the third installment, Dare to Love. (You may get it in your alerts anyway, but I'll still send :P) Tell me your observations in this chapter, and absolutely I hope you didn't skim, because a lot is highly important.

IMPORTANT: As I mentioned in my Author note, the story "Dare to Love" is both a sequel/spinoff to this story and to Hidden Beneath the Mask. However it's not _important_ that you know everything that happened in MASK, but it is probably important that you know about Kelly (She is a minor character in that story, but responsible for the death of the antagonist). Dakota (and Chloe) are not OCs btw, they are actual members of the group on the show they belong to. More importantly, since Kelly appears once or twice in MASK, I can probably message you her parts if you don't want to go through the story, but it might be hard to see how the antagonist's death was justified by doing that, and I'll have to message you a whole chapter as well, it's no big deal. Keep an eye out for the third (and final) installment of The Sviederbach Chronicles. "Dare to Love" should be coming out around the same time as this chapter.


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